Grant programs

The Australian Government values our success as a multicultural nation.

Our multicultural grant programs:

strengthen Australia's social inclusion
support multicultural communities to be active in Australia
help multicultural communities contribute to Australia.

Latest News

Applications open

Independent Multicultural Media - transformation and sustainability grant is now open for applications! To view the Grant Opportunity Guidelines and to apply, see GrantConnect Grant Opportunity View - GO8012.

Multicultural Grassroots Initiatives - Round Two is now open for applications! To view the Grant Opportunity Guidelines and to apply, see GrantConnect Grant Opportunity View - GO8001.

Community Language Schools Grants Program - Fluency in Asian Languages Round 1 is now open for applications! To view the Grant Opportunity Guidelines and to apply, see GrantConnect Grant Opportunity View - GO8054.

Community Language Schools Grants Program - Extension Round is now open for applications! To view the Grant Opportunity Guidelines and to apply, see GrantConnect Grant Connect Forecast Opportunity View - GO8072.

Find and apply for grant opportunities

To find and apply for grant opportunities, see the Australian Government's grants information system, GrantConnect.

To be notified about new grant opportunities you can subscribe to the Community Grants Hub mailing list.

Supporting Multicultural Communities Program

The Australian Government is investing up to $190.3 million over 2 years from 2025-26 to provide direct support to multicultural communities. This is in line with the 2025 election commitments.

The Supporting Multicultural Communities Program will be funded through multiple closed non-competitive grants rounds. We will manage these rounds in 3 streams:

major infrastructure and renovations
amenities
events and programs.

Up to 160 eligible organisations will receive an invitation to apply for this this targeted, non-competitive grant to support their community-driven initiatives.

To deliver these election commitments, we will follow Department of Finance's grants process. This includes developing grant opportunity guidelines to inform proposed grantees of the:

process they will need to follow to apply for a grant
factors that we will consider in making our decision
obligations that we expect proposed grantees to satisfy.

Grant opportunity guidelines are the authoritative source of information for grant applicants and other stakeholders. Funding can only be approved when there is satisfaction that the project would be an efficient, effective, economical and ethical use of relevant money.

We will update this page with more information when it becomes available. We will also give information about specific grants to registered organisations via email.

We expect to release Grant opportunity guidelines from November 2025 on GrantConnect.

Community Language Schools Grants Program

Community Language Schools Grants Program - Fluency in Asian Languages Round 1 is now open for applications. To view the Grant Opportunity Guidelines and to apply, see GrantConnect Grant Opportunity View - GO8054.

Community Language Schools Grants Program - Extension Round is now open for applications! To view the Grant Opportunity Guidelines and to apply, see Grant Connect Forecast Opportunity View - GO8072.

The Australian Government is investing $25.6 million over 4 years from 2025-26, to support young Australians to learn or maintain a language other than English.

This grants program will:

strengthen Australia's social inclusion
help preserve language within multicultural communities
connect young Australians to the languages of their parents, grandparents and communities
enable young Australians to participate in a broader range of jobs in the global market.

This program will include 2 streams of funding.

Stream One will provide $15.5 million to community language schools. This grant funding can be used to support the operational costs of program delivery, professional development and teacher training, or to develop new online teaching material to boost enrolments.
Stream Two will provide $5 million to support more students to become fluent in Asian languages to Years 11 and 12.

Funding is also being provided for the administration of the program.

Modernised Multicultural Grants Program

The Modernised Multicultural Grants program supports a strong multicultural Australia by:

giving more consistent and long-term funding to multicultural organisations
fostering more certainty and sustainability for multicultural organisations
strengthening their ability to serve both members of their own community and broader society
supporting longer-term initiatives and lasting results.

The funding will support organisations to:

hold local events
celebrate festivals
build and deliver support programs
improve amenities
build facilities.

This program provides funding through the following grants.

Multicultural Grassroots Initiatives - Round Two

Multicultural Grassroots Initiatives - Round Two is now open for applications! To view the Grant Opportunity Guidelines and to apply, see GrantConnect Grant Opportunity View - GO8001. Applicants will be accepted between 10 November 2025 and 5 December 2025.

Information sessions were held on 17 and 18 November 2025. You can download a copy of the Mulitcultural Grassroots Initiatives (MGI) Round Two powerpoint presentation.

The Multicultural Grassroots Initiative (MGI) grant program provides funding to community led grassroots organisations that embrace Australia's multicultural diversity and help multicultural communities to become an active part of Australia's economic and social development. This helps to foster a cohesive multicultural Australia by:

increasing understanding of racial, religious and cultural diversity
fostering integration through an increase in social participation by culturally and linguistically diverse Australians
fostering a sense of community and belonging among culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Multicultural Places of Significance Grant

The Australian Government is providing $8.5 million to support the creation of the Centre of Jewish Life and Tolerance. This will sit alongside the Sydney Jewish Museum.

The funding will support the Centre to:

enhance understanding of Jewish history
combat antisemitism.

View the media release regarding the museum funding.

Infrastructure for Multicultural Communities

The Australian Government is investing $41 million to support multicultural communities with facilities to promote connection.

This grant funding can be used to construct, upgrade or extend infrastructure that demonstrates benefits to multicultural communities. This may include:

community hubs and centres
museums, libraries and art spaces
indoor and outdoor amenities, including food preparation areas, dining spaces, bathrooms and barbecue facilities
meeting and conference facilities
stages, auditoriums and spaces to encourage performing arts
spaces for sporting and physical activities.

This grant program will provide funding for infrastructure projects to be completed by June 2028.

A Forecast Opportunity is now available. See GrantConnect Forecast Opportunity View - FO2025-5201.

Independent Multicultural Media - transformation and sustainability

Now open for applications! To view the Grant Opportunity Guidelines and to apply, see GrantConnect Grant Opportunity View - GO8012.

An information session was held on Wednesday 19 November 2025. You can view a recording from GrantConnect or at Independent Multicultural Media - transformation and sustainability grant opportunity..

The Australian Government is investing $10 million to support eligible Australian, independent, multicultural media organisations transition to sustainable new media practices.

This funding will support the implementation of innovative business practices, capacity building, and strengthen sustainability and resilience.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible to apply for this grant, organisations must:

Demonstrate that they are either:

Category 1: a current paid member of IMMA at the time of the grant opportunity closing date; or
Category 2: a current CBAA member at the time of the grant opportunity closing date, and 100% of produced airtime is dedicated to at least one community defined by their cultural or linguistic background; or
Category 3: an independent multicultural media outlet, which for the purposes of this grant opportunity, is defined as an organisation designed to reach and deliver 100% of media services are dedicated to at least one community defined by their cultural or linguistic background and provide evidence to support:

being privately owned and operated (within Australia)
main purpose is to provide media content through print, radio, television, and/or digital news sites
produced content does not undermine social cohesion
currently operating and have been operating continuously since at least 1 July 2023.

Have had an annual revenue in either the 2023–24 or 2024–25 financial year of less than $4.0 million.

Funding for communities affected by Hamas-Israel conflict

On 19 October 2023, the Australian Government announced initiatives across government to address the social cohesion impacts of the Hamas-Israel conflict in Australia.

For more information, see Community funding to support social cohesion initiatives.

Previous grant programs

These grant rounds have closed to new applications. Information on each programs’ grant opportunity guidelines and successful funding recipients is available on GrantConnect.

Previous rounds include:

Multicultural Peak Body Project Funding
Multicultural Grassroots Initiatives – Round One
Community Language Schools Grants
Local Multicultural Projects Program
Fostering Integration Grants

For more information, see Previous grant programs.