Round 10 of the Stronger Communities Programme is open, and it works differently from almost every other grant your club will see this year. You can't simply apply. Your federal MP has to invite you, and MPs have until 5pm on 30 November 2026 to nominate their projects.[1] If your club wants a share, the work to do in November is getting onto your MP's list.
How much is on offer
Each of the 150 federal electorates has $150,000 to spend.[1] Individual grants run from $2,500 to $20,000 for small capital projects.[1] Most not-for-profit applicants can be funded for up to 100% of eligible project costs, so there is no co-contribution to find. Local councils are the exception: they get up to 50% and must match it with cash.[1]
The key dates
- 21 September 2026: the portal opened for MP nominations and applications[1]
- 30 November 2026, 5pm: MP nominations close[1]
- 19 January 2027, 5pm: invited applications close[1]
- by early April 2027: outcomes expected[1]
- 31 March 2028: projects must be finished[1]
Who can apply
Eligible organisations include incorporated not-for-profits such as Police-Citizens Youth Clubs, surf clubs, child care centres, local aged care bodies and P&C or P&F associations, along with non-distributing co-operatives, companies limited by guarantee, Indigenous corporations, incorporated religious organisations, trustees of community assets, fire and emergency services, and local councils. You need an ABN.[1]
Businesses, individuals, partnerships, schools, universities and hospitals can't apply.[1] Note the school rule: the school can't apply, but its incorporated P&C can.
What a project has to do
Your project must sit inside the nominating MP's electorate and line up with at least one of the program's objectives.[1] The list is broad. It includes community infrastructure that supports physical or mental health, children's development and community participation, access for people with disability, gender equality in access to sport and public facilities, emissions reduction, climate resilience, veterans, Indigenous Australians and newly arrived migrants.[1]
Grant money can be spent on suppliers and contracted labour, planning and design fees, and equipment or asset purchases.[1] It can't pay for in-kind work, anything you spent before you applied, or a project that has already started or has contracts signed.[1] So don't order the new shade structure or sign the builder's contract while you wait.
How MPs choose
Each MP sets up or uses a community consultation committee to pick projects and decide how much each one gets.[1] The MP then invites those organisations to lodge a full application. Assessment is non-competitive and scored against a single criterion, alignment with the program's objectives, and applications need at least 50% to be funded.[1] In practice, the decision that matters most is the MP's.
How to get nominated
1. Find your federal electorate on the Australian Electoral Commission's electorate finder.[2] Use the address of the project, not your committee members' home addresses. 2. Check your MP's website. Many run a short expression-of-interest form for this program. If you can't find one, email or ring the electorate office and ask how they are choosing Round 10 projects. 3. Send a one-page summary: what you want to buy or build, where it is, a quoted cost between $2,500 and $20,000, which program objective it meets, who uses it, and confirmation it won't start before approval. 4. Attach your quote. A real quote reads very differently to a committee than a guess. 5. Do it early. An MP's committee has to meet and decide before 30 November, so some electorate offices set their own earlier cut-off.
Past recipients aren't exempt. Even clubs funded in Round 9 need a fresh invitation.[1]
Once you are invited
The invitation gives you until 19 January 2027 to lodge, which runs straight through the Christmas break when most club committees go quiet.[1] Line up the paperwork before December: ABN, incorporation certificate, quote, a short project plan, photos of the site, and landowner consent if you lease council land.
This guide summarises the Round 10 guidelines as published on business.gov.au at 29 October 2026. It doesn't replace them, so read the full guidelines before you apply.