Council encourages applications from diverse groups across the City of Yarra, including First Peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, children and young people, and people experiencing disadvantage.
Applicants are encouraged to prepare early, read the program guidelines and consider how their project will deliver clear outcomes for the community.
The program supports community-led projects that benefit neighbourhoods, shared spaces and communities across Yarra. Last year our grants program helped deliver initiatives broad ranging initiatives including:
- An Aquatic Inclusion Project for Culturally and Linguistically diverse community members, Seniors, and People with Disabilities saw Life Saving Victoria deliver 30 separate activities and classes.
- A Yarra community grant made it possible for 150 foot-care / podiatry kits for disadvantaged Yarra residents by Footscape.
- The Community free haircuts program that delivered 332 haircuts to low-income residents.
- A $4,000 Community Grant is helping author and illustrator Debrah Ladd bring Flick the Flying Fox to young readers, inspiring children to connect with Yarra's threatened grey-headed flying fox colony.
Through community grants, Council invests in local ideas that build connection, participation and inclusion, helping deliver practical outcomes that strengthen neighbourhoods and improve community wellbeing.
Projects funded through the program must align with three principles: promoting access and equity, delivering local benefit and enabling participation.
Medium grants ($4,001 to $20,000) can support multi-activity projects or short-term programs while the Large grants program ($20,001 to $40,000) can support longer-term or partnership-driven initiatives with the potential for broad or sustained community impact.
Applications for medium and large grants close at 5pm on Friday 28 August 2026. Grant outcomes will be announced from Wednesday 16 December 2026. Successful medium and large grant projects commencing from January 2027.
Small Grants will open on Thursday 1 October 2026. These grants, up to $4,000 are suited to short-term, low cost initiatives such as social events, recurring community gatherings or pilot activities with minimal logistics and reporting requirements.
