The Australian National Maritime Museum has announced this year's successful recipients in the latest round of grants under the Maritime Museums of Australia Project Support Scheme (MMAPSS). Museums and cultural organisations across the country will receive funding and support toward projects that protect and preserve Australia's proud maritime heritage.
Twenty-seven successful MMAPSS applications will share in more than $162,560 in grants and support, with 19 projects awarded funding and 8 applicants funded to attend a week-long museological training course at the Australian National Maritime Museum. Projects were allocated full or partial funding, plus in-kind support where applicable.
This announcement highlights the breadth and depth of new and ongoing maritime heritage initiatives, each reflecting stories and legacies that are both deeply rooted in their local context and nationally significant. This includes developing an artwork-led exhibition exploring the relationship between the Thaua People of Twofold Bay and beowa (killer whales), conserving and digitising a rare photographic album documenting an international voyage by HMAS Australia, producing a hands-on 'discovery cart' for museum collections education activities, restoring an historic fishing boat, and supporting boatbuilding students to undertake a placement with the Australian National Maritime Museum.
The MMAPSS Selection Committee noted that this year's successful awardees demonstrate the continuing evolution of the Australian maritime heritage sector, as maritime museums find creative ways to bring to life shared stories which connect audiences across the country with Australia's oceans and waterways.
Minister for the Arts The Hon. Tony Burke said, 'These projects bring to life Australia's maritime history and audiences across the country will be able to experience the unique stories being told.'
The Hon. Hieu Van Le AC, Chair of the Australian National Maritime Museum, said 'As an island nation, Australia has always been shaped by its enduring relationship with the sea. Our maritime heritage lives in the stories, vessels and objects that connect communities across generations and across the nation. It is through the care, generosity and dedication of people and organisations throughout Australia that this rich legacy will continue to be preserved, shared and entrusted to those who come after us.'
MMAPSS is administered by the Australian National Maritime Museum and funded by the Australian Government through the Australian National Maritime Museum and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts. Since 1995, MMAPSS has provided more than $2.7 million to over 580 projects and over 100 museological training opportunities to organisations across Australia.
Projects include the physical restoration of vessels, conservation and digitisation of significant collections, exhibition development, educational resources and interpretive displays, and strategic work that improves public access to maritime heritage.
The Museum will also provide selected projects with in-kind support, to assist with planning, evaluation, interpretation, conservation, and education. Staff and volunteers at museums and historical societies across Australia will have access to subject-matter specialists from the Museum's Curatorial, Fleet, Conservation, Education, and Communications teams.
2026 RECIPIENTS AND PROJECTS BY STATE
NSW
Eden Killer Whale Museum – This project develops a new interpretive artwork-led exhibition component presenting the Thaua People's cultural relationship with beowa (killer whales) and Sea Country, within the Museum's existing orca interpretation.
Camperdown Cemetery Trust – This project undertakes conservation works to the graves of significant Australian maritime figures buried at Camperdown Cemetery.
Jervis Bay Maritime Museum - This project is to design a steel dinghy storage and launch rack on the Alf Settree Boatshed slipway to improve conservation, access and interpretation of historic dinghies.
Tinonee Historical Society - This project will conserve the 'Polley Boat' model through cleaning, mould removal and minor repairs to ensure its long-term preservation.
Naval Historical Society of Australia - This project is to publish a richly illustrated chronological history of the Royal Australian Navy from 1948 to 1972 incorporating first-hand accounts and archival material.
Merimbula-Imlay Historical Society - This project will engage a textile conservator to assess, stabilise and establish appropriate storage for a fragile collection of maritime signal flags from SS Empire Gladstone.
MARITIME MUSEUM ADMINISTRATORS' COURSE GRANTS (NSW) Colin Storey, Sutherland Shire Historical Society Museum
TAS Bass Strait Maritime Museum – This project is to digitise collection records during a storage relocation, to support conservation planning and future public access through a new collection management system.
The Wooden Boat Centre – This project will support boatbuilding students to undertake a one-week professional placement at the Australian National Maritime Museum focused on best-practice conservation skills.
The Royal Society of Tasmania – This project creates an interactive digital flipbook to provide public access to a recently-conserved album of watercolours produced by Captain Owen Stanley's voyage aboard Britomart between 1837–1843.
MUSEUM ADMINISTRATORS' COURSE GRANTS (TAS) Linda Davoren, Spring Bay Maritime Discovery Centre
VIC City of Greater Geelong – This project will conserve and digitise a photographic album documenting HMAS Australia's 1934–35 voyage to England, to ensure preservation and improve public access.
Queenscliffe Maritime Museum – This project involves conservation works to stabilise the historic couta boat Maud and prepare it for long-term preservation and future restoration.
Australian National Surfing Museum – This project will research, develop and design new exhibition content exploring the history, culture and sporting evolution of surfing in Australia.
Portland Maritime Museum – This project is to design and produce a mobile Discovery Cart to expand interpretation capacity and enable hands-on engagement with maritime collections.
Seaworks Foundation – This project will install interpretive signage across the Seaworks Maritime Precinct, to strengthen cohesive storytelling and visitor understanding.
Mallacoota & District Historical Society - This project enhances the SS Riverina lifeboat display shed through conservation upgrades and immersive interpretive elements.
MARITIME MUSEUM ADMINISTRATORS' COURSE GRANTS (NSW) Gillian Wright, Echuca Historical Society
Katherine Wake, Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum & Village
Glenda McKenna, Western Port Oberon Association
Rosemary Kendall, Western Port Oberon Association
WA
Carnarvon Heritage Group – This project will stabilise and partially restore the historic vessel Little Dirk through cradle construction, selective repairs, conservation treatment and interpretive signage.
City of Albany – This project is to prepare objects and personal stories for new interpretive signage supporting the planned refresh of the HMAS Perth (II) Interpretive Centre.
Albany's Historic Whaling Station – This project develops a new interpretive narrative examining the social, political, economic and environmental forces that led to the end of commercial whaling in Australia.
Broome Historical Society – This project is to commission a professional conservation assessment of priority maritime objects in the Broome Historical Museum, to guide future treatment and care.
MUSEUM ADMINISTRATORS' COURSE GRANTS (WA) Jon Readhead, Royal Perth Yacht Club of Western Australia Susan Dhu, Western Australian Fishers Lost at Sea Memorial Association
About MMAPSS
The Maritime Museums of Australia Project Support Scheme (MMAPSS) is funded by the Australian Government – through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts and the Australian National Maritime Museum. MMAPSS provides grants of up to $15,000, as well as museological training opportunities valued at up to $3,000, and in-kind support from Australian National Maritime Museum experts.
MMAPSS offers funding to museums and other not-for-profit organisations to help preserve or display objects of national and historical maritime significance. It also supports staff or volunteers, including from remote or regional organisations across Australia, to spend time learning specific skills and making valuable connections.
Many cultural institutions around the country care for maritime items of historical and national significance. The Australian National Maritime Museum supports and encourages efforts to conserve and display unique local objects for today's audiences and future generations.
MMAPSS gives grants of up to $15,000 for projects that fall into one or more of these categories:
- Collection management (registration, documentation and storage)
- Conservation (preservation, vessel restoration, conservation work/treatments and professional assessments)
- Presentation (research, development of exhibitions, establishing interpretative displays and workshops)
- Development of relevant education or public programs which make collections more accessible to audiences
MMAPSS also gives grants of up to $3,000 to support attendance at the Museum Administrators' Course:
- Museological training for paid or unpaid workers of not-for-profit organisations caring for Australia's maritime collections
- Funding will support the accommodation and travel costs of staff and/or volunteers to participate in a week-long Museum Administrators' Course to develop museological skills and knowledge that will increase standards of practice for the care and management of maritime collections (provided by the Australian National Maritime Museum).
Since its inception in 1995, the Australian Government has provided more than $2.7 million to over 580 projects and over 100 development opportunities under MMAPSS, to organisations in Queensland, New South Wales (including Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands), Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia (including the Cocos and Keeling Islands), the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.
Please visit the website https://www.sea.museum/en/about/grants-and-awards/mmapss for details on the next round of funding.
About the Museum
The Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney is the national centre for maritime collections, exhibitions, research and archaeology. As a Commonwealth cultural institution, the museum is committed to fulfilling its national mandate by developing programs and opportunities to share its expertise, collection and the national maritime story with regional communities throughout Australia.
