2026-27 Community Bi-annual Grant Round 1

This round will open at 9:00AM 4 February 2026 (AEDT) for submissions.

IMPORTANT: Please read information below to assist you in completing your application

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Welcome to the Kingston City Council's online grant application service, powered by SmartyGrants.

You may begin anywhere in this application form. Please ensure you save as you go.

For queries about the guidelines, deadlines, or questions in the form, please contact us on 1300 653 356 during business hours or email community@kingston.vic.gov.au and quote your submission number.

Click here Kingston's website to view the guidelines and eligibility criteria.

If you need more help using this form, download the Help Guide for Applicants or check out Applicant Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

COMMUNITY BI-ANNUAL GRANT STREAM

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

To be eligible for funding under this grant stream, you must meet all of the following:

Individual artists / Organisations must:

  • Align with the key directions of the Council & Wellbeing Plan 2025-2029.
  • Align with the purpose and requirements of this grant stream.
  • Include current public liability insurance with an appropriate level of cover and Certificate of Currency.
  • Provide quotes for each item or service to be funded.
  • Be submitted by the due date.

Applicants must:

  • Be located in Kingston; or if located outside of Kingston, be able to demonstrate their activity provides a significant benefit to the Kingston community
  • Have no overdue grant reports or debts with Council.
  • Not have received a Kingston Grants Program or Kingston Charitable Fund grant for the same activity within the same financial year.
  • Comply with all Council policies, laws (including Child Safe Standards), government directions, and legal agreements, and provide a copy of your Child Safe Standards Policy (if applicable).
  • Have no active breaches against the obligations of Consumer Affairs Victoria, the Australian Not-for- Profit and Charities Commission, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, or WorkSafe Victoria, as applicable.
  • Be legally constituted (e.g. incorporated association, company limited by guarantee, Aboriginal Corporation, Statutory Authority, or a Church established by legislation), or be auspiced by a legally constituted organisation. Evidence of legal status and, if applicable, a copy of the auspicing agreement must be provided.
  • Be not-for-profit and managed by a volunteer board/committee of management; or auspiced by a not-for-profit managed by a volunteer board/committee of management and provide evidence of your last Annual Report or AGM minutes complying with Consumer Affairs Victoria, Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission, or Australian Securities and Investments Commission obligations.
  • Be financially sustainable and able to operate for the full funding and reporting period with support from the grant and provide your organisations latest financial statement complying with Consumer Affairs Victoria, Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission, or Australian Securities and Investments Commission obligations.
  • Not receive a direct income from gambling activities, undertake or promote gambling.

 

NAVIGATING (MOVING THROUGH) THE APPLICATION FORM

On every screen (page of the form) you will find a Form Navigation contents box, this links directly to every page of the application. Click the link to jump directly to the page you want.

You can also click 'next page' or 'previous page' on the top or bottom of each page to move forward or backward through the application.

SAVING YOUR DRAFT APPLICATION

If you wish to leave a partially completed application, press 'save and close' and log out. When you log back in and click on the 'My Submissions' link at the top of the screen, you will find a list of any applications you have started or submitted. You can reopen your draft application and start where you left off.

You can also download any application, whether draft or completed, as a PDF. Click on the 'Download PDF' button located at the bottom of the last page of the application form.

SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION

You will find a Review and Submit button at the bottom of the Navigation Panel. You need to review your application before you can submit it.

Once you have reviewed your application you can submit it by clicking on 'Submit' at the top or bottom of the screen or on the navigation panel. You will not be able to submit your application until all the compulsory questions are completed and there are no validation errors.

Once you have submitted your application, no further editing or uploading of support materials is possible.

When you submit your application, you will receive a confirmation email with a copy of your submitted application attached. This will be sent to the email you used to register.

If you do not receive a confirmation of submission email then you should presume that your submission has NOT been submitted.

Hint: also check the email hasn't landed in your spam or junk email folder.

ATTACHMENTS AND SUPPORT DOCUMENTS

You will need to upload/submit attachments to support your application. This is very simple, but requires you to have the documents saved on your computer, or on a storage device.

You need to allow enough time for each file to upload before trying to attach another file. Files can be up to 25MB each; however, we do recommend trying to keep files to a maximum of 5MB – the larger the file, the longer the upload time.

The following supporting documents are required to be attached within this application form;

  • Incorporation Certificate (if new applicant to Council or if auspiced)
  • Auspice Agreement (for individual artists or unincorporated organisations)
  • Current Public Liability Insurance for your organisation (or auspice organisation) 
  • Current Financial Statement (for organisations)
  • Current Annual Report or AGM minutes (for organisations)
  • Quotes for all proposed expenditure
  • Child safe policy, where relevant
  • An image that represents your project (optional)

Additional documents required to be attached within this application form by category:

CategorySmall Community Festivals & EventsMinor Capital WorksArts, Projects & Programs
Additional Documents Required
  • Approval in Principle letter from the Events team, and Event Notification Form for events to be held on Council land (see Events webpage)
  • Approval in Principle letter from the Property team, for works on Council owned buildings (see Property webpage)
  • Letter of approval from landlord, for works on privately owned buildings
  • Auspice agreement
  • Supporting materials (artist biography/CV, images of previous work, confirmation letters from key personnel/partners)  
  • Project Timeline
  • Letter from Bunurong Land Council or Foundation giving permission to use cultural property, if relevant
  • Intellectual Property rights confirmation, if relevant

Please note: You can also upload additional supporting documents that have not been asked for, if you believe they will help strengthen your application.

COMPLETING AN APPLICATION IN A GROUP/TEAM

A number of people can work on an application using the same log in details as long as only one person is working at a time. Ensure you save as you go.

SPELL CHECK

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