What is the Local History Grants Program?
The Local History Grants Program is a grant opportunity to encourage and foster community activities that preserve, record and share the local, social and community history of Victoria and Victorians.
Background
The Victorian Government recognises that community history is an important part of Victoria’s memory.
Through the Local History Grants Program, the Victorian Government provides support to community-based organisations in the preservation and care of Victoria’s rich cultural heritage, within and across communities. The grants also recognise the importance of increasing the public’s access to our State’s multifaceted history through a diverse range of platforms and experiences. Researching, writing and publishing the history of local communities is a popular activity and one of the ways in which Victorians connect with each other and their past. The program aims to provide support for these mostly volunteer activities, to increase the skills of volunteer local historians and to help ensure the care and management of our State’s history.
Funding
Small grants of up to $15,000 are made for the preservation and sharing of Victorian history by a variety of local community based organisations interested in telling the stories from their own communities, preserving their collections and increasing opportunities for the public to engage with the past.
Eligible Projects
Projects that are considered for the Local History Grants Program involve strong community involvement and benefits and can include, for example:
- The recording of oral histories
- The preparation and publishing of local history e-books.
- Conservation and cataloguing of objects and records
- The development and production of exhibitions
- Web projects that provide local history information or resources
- Training in local history or collection management skills
- The design and production of interpretation panels and heritage walks.
- The digitisation and publishing of collection items and local history information.
- Digital storytelling including film and DVD projects.
- Apps for mobile devices
- Consultancy fees for the provision of specialist skills not found within the organisation.
- The purchase of archival quality storage products
- Newspaper digitisation projects (will only be considered if organisations have liaised with the State Library of Victoria and consented to supply copies for publishing on TROVE. A letter acknowledging this agreement with SLV must be supplied as part of the application.)
- Equipment and assets to display or preserve collections (such as IT and digitising equipment, display cases or archival shelving may be considered for funding; however you must demonstrate the organisations need and its ongoing use beyond the life of the project.)
Eligible Applicants
In order to receive the Local History Grants Program from the Local History Grants Program your organisation will need to meet the following criteria.
The organisation applying must be:
- Based in Victoria
- Not-for-profit
In addition your organisation will also need to be either:
- Registered with the Office of Consumer Affairs Victoria as either an Incorporated body or Association, Co-operative, OR be auspiced by a group with this status
- Have an Australian Business Number (ABN) OR be auspiced by a group with an ABN (eg Council, Library etc)
Applications from organisations affiliated with, or funded through State or Federal Government will be considered provided: the project is undertaken in partnership with a community based organisation that fits the aforementioned criteria; and the project demonstrates strong community involvement and lasting benefit. These organisations might include:
- Statutory authorities
- Local councils
- Universities
- Libraries
- State Schools
If you are not sure about your organisation’s legal entity status, consult your Treasurer or Financial Officer.
Timing
Applications close 9 March 2021.
More Information
Round 18 Recipients 2019-2020
Alphington Bowls Club
The First Hundred Years
Awarded $7,000
Beechworth Cemetery Trust
Beechworth Public Cemetery Website and Branding Project
Awarded $9,005
Bellarine Historical Society Inc.
Displays of Agricultural Industries and Rural life
Awarded $4,233.35
Bendigo Youth Choir Inc.
Sing, Dream, Belong, A History of the Bendigo Youth Choir
Awarded $15,000
Buninyong and District Historical Society
Digital preservation of oral and video histories
Awarded $1,299
Business & Tourism Creswick Inc.
A Goldmine of History – a pictorial history of the Australasian No 2 mine
$10,329
Care Leavers Australasia Network Inc.
Geelong Care Leavers talk back to historical records of the Children’s Welfare Department
Awarded $13,800
Charles Sturt University
Mayday Hills and Beechworth Cemetery Virtual Tour
Awarded $6,067
Chiltern Court House Committee of Management
Chiltern Courthouse History Panels Project: presenting stories of the courthouse
Awarded $7,000
Chinese Australian Family Historians of Victoria Inc.
Making Chinese-Australian travel records publicly available: An online database
Awarded $11,000
Cottage by the Sea
Cottage by the Sea Archive Management System and storage equipment
Awarded $879
Dandenong Ranges Historical Council Inc.
Digitise Ferntree Gully News 1940-1947
Awarded $4,915.68
Darebin Libraries
Darebin Heritage Assessment Study
Awarded $5,000
Deaf Children Australia
Cataloguing Deaf Children Australia History Collection – 1862 – Present Day
Awarded $14,885
East Gippsland Family History Group Inc. (EGFHG)
Preserving East Gippsland
Awarded $3,500
Eureka Australia Descendants and Supporters
Eureka in Melbourne Walking App
Awarded $3,980
Friends of St. Brigid’s Association
Preserving the history of St Brigid’s Crossley. Stage 1.
$1,500
Geelong Regional Library Corporation
Significance Assessment Report and Perspectives Plan for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Materials in the Geelong Heritage Centre Archive
Awarded $9,500
History Monash Inc.
New archival storage shelves and archival preservation materials
Awarded $3,870
Kooloonong Natya Landcare Group
Kooloonong-Natya-Boundary Bend Centenary of Soldier Settlement 1920-2020
Awarded $12,475
Korong Historical Society
E-publication with text and over 800 photographs of significant heritage sites
Awarded $3,280
Krowathunkooloong Keeping Place within GEGAC Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Co-Operative Ltd.
Krowathunkooloong Keeping Place: lockable display cabinets and archive quality prints
Awarded $4,076.91
Landcare Victoria Inc.
Landcare Voices – an Oral History Phase II
Awarded $7,050
Leongatha & District Historical Society Inc
Equipment project
Awarded $1,000
Merino Progress Association Inc.
Merino Township Historic Signage
Awarded $8,728.80
Mildura Rural City Council
100 years of Soldier Settlement
Awarded $14,994
Morwell Cricket Club Inc
Morwell Cricket Club Public Display Records
Awarded $915
Musculoskeletal Australia
Digitisation and Cataloguing of MSK’s Photographic Collection
Awarded $7,200
National Trust of Australia (Victoria)
Our Land, Your Law: Case Studies of Aboriginal Incarceration at Old Melbourne Gaol
Awarded $15,000
North Cyprus Community of Victoria
Muslims of Victoria: Our stories of belonging, community and homemaking
Awarded $10,862
Nullawil Historical Society Inc.
Auchmore museum collection archiving
Awarded $5,035.45
Numurkah & District Historical Society Inc.
Display of, and signage for, tools and farming items currently in storage
Awarded $7,600
Pammessinian Brotherhood Papaflessas Ltd
Messinia To Victoria Oral History
Awarded $2,000
Phillip Island Historical Society
Oral Histories of Phillip Island
Awarded $7,000
Scout Heritage Victoria
Conservation and Storage of Textile Event Pennants
Awarded $2,925
St Arnaud & District Historical Society Inc.
St Arnaud Mining History Discovery Trail
Awarded $9,280
Stawell Historical Society Incorporated
Implementation of a Digitising Project for cataloguing records of Museum Objects
Awarded $2,000
Strathbogie Tableland History Group
Strathbogie Heritage Trail
Awarded $6,190
Tetoora Road Community Centre Committee of Management
Oral History of Tetoora Road Area
Awarded $4,720
The Albanian Australian Islamic Society
Melbourne’s First Mosque- Albanian Mosque Celebrating 50 Years
Awarded $5,984.45
The Cancer Council Victoria
Eighty years of the Victorian Cancer Registry, 1940-2020
Awarded $7,754.50
The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria Ltd (RASV)
Celebrating Victoria’s Rural Heritage – The Frank Johnson Photography Collection
Awarded $6,050
The Sovereign Hill Museums Association
Pioneer Women of Ballarat Project
Awarded $14,926
Torquay Museum Without Walls Inc.
Digitizing Torquay’s Civic History
Awarded $1,987
Victorian National Parks Association Inc.
Park Watch: 70 years of protecting Victoria’s National Parks and reserves, 1952 – 2022
Awarded $15,000
Werribee River Association Inc.
WRA’s 40 Years of Waterway Protection
Awarded $5,500
Westgate Concert Band
Westgate Concert Band Digital Archive
Awarded $1,050
Whitehorse Historical Society Inc.
Purchase and installation of display units for the Whitehorse Historical Society
Awarded $3,902.80
Willaura Modern Inc.
Precious Objects: shared memories of our collective past
Awarded $2,900
Wimmera Mallee Pioneer Museum
Wimmera Mallee Pioneer Museum-Significance Assessment
Awarded $7,500
Winchelsea and District Historical Society
Becoming Digital
Awarded $3,246
Woods’ Farming & Heritage Museum
Ball Gown Preservation
Awarded $4,800
Yarra Ranges Regional Museum
Culture Chats – Gathering Stories
Awarded $4,170
Round 17 Recipients 2018-2019
Alexandra Timber Tramway and Museum Inc.
Awarded $5,692
Interpretation panels and signage for historic exhibits display
Bacchus Marsh and District Historical Society
Awarded $12,973
Digitisation of The Bacchus Marsh Express Newspapers
Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative
Awarded $15,000
BADAC: 40 Years Strong
Beaumaris Modern Inc.
Awarded $2,010
Beaumaris Modern Walking Tour App
Benalla Aviation Museum Inc.
Awarded $1,320
Museum Information Signage
Bonnie Doon Recreation Reserve Inc.
Awarded $3,000
Historical timeline and details of the Bonnie Doon Recreation Reserve
Carlton Community History Group Inc.
Awarded $2,030
Digitisation and preservation of oral history interviews and talks
Castlemaine Billy Cart Challenge
Awarded $7,800
70 years in the making: Capturing the history of billy cart racing in Castlemaine
Colac and District Family History Group Inc.
Awarded $2,098
Computer to Digitise Colac and District Family History
Collingwood Children’s Farm (CCF)
Awarded $15,000
Shared Histories
Creswick Museum – Hepburn Shire
Awarded $4,350
Purchase and installation of compactus unit for the Creswick Museum Research Centre
Creswick Railway Workshops Assoc Inc.
Awarded $8,330
Creswick Interactive History Installation: 100 Years of Culture Change
Dried Fruits Australia
Awarded $15,000
Dried Vine Fruits Industry: Preservation of 100 years of History Stage Two
Echuca Historical Society Inc.
Awarded $15,000
Digitise and Archive 6493 pages 2001,2002 Riverine Herald
Environment Victoria Inc.
Awarded $13,875
50 years of protecting Victoria’s environment
Euroa Historical Genealogical Society
Awarded $1,200
Security Cameras
Fire Services Museum of Victoria
Awarded $5,714
Mosaic Upgrade and Enhancement
Gippstown Reserve Committee of Management
Awarded $5,200
Old Gippstown Heritage Buildings and Collections History Website
Horsham Historical Society
Awarded $2,049
Computers for public access to view our digitised collection
Kew Historical Society Inc.
Awarded $14,500
Conserving the former City of Kew’s Mayoral Portraits
Kilmore General Cemetery Trust
Awarded $5,350
Kilmore General Cemetery records conservation project
Kinglake Historical Society
Awarded $4,950
Kinglake District Archival Storage
Kow Plains Homestead Committee (Mildura Rural City Council)
Awarded $6,000
Kow Plains and Beyond Revisited 1849-2019
Leongatha and District Historical Society Inc.
Awarded $2,220
The Leongatha Historical Society equipment project
Lilydale and District Historical Society
Awarded $6,989
Digitisation of the Lilydale Express newspaper 1900-1913 and 1919-1920
Longwarry and District History Group Inc.
Awarded $3,930
Historical Photo Display Panels
Melbourne Legacy
Awarded $7,225
Digitisation of important historical films from the Melbourne Legacy Archives
Merrigum and District Historical and Educational Society Inc.
Awarded $1,400
Making a Digital Merrigum
Nillumbik Historical Society Inc.
Awarded $1,858
Digitising, Preserving and Sharing Documents and Artefacts from Diamond Creek’s Historical Society
Nuggetty Land Protection Group
Awarded $7,200
Nuggetty Oral History
Old Geelong Football Club
Awarded $1,000
Old Geelong Football Club Year by Year Web History Project
Port Fairy Historical Society Inc.
Awarded $8,492
Equip a new purpose built archive facility
Quambatook Historical Centre Inc.
Awarded $1,500
Remembering Quambatook History as told by the Towns older residents
Ringwood and District Historical Society
Awarded $1,944
Establish Scanning Workstation (overhead scanner) for Large Documents
RMIT Design Archives
Awarded $11,200
Creating culture through clothes 1980s to 1990s: the Sara Thorn fashion archive
Sale Historical Society Inc.
Awarded $4,362
Archive Development 2019-2020
Skipton and District Historical Society
Awarded $10,500
Digitisation and upload to Trove of the Skipton Standard, part 1, 1914-1928
Smythesdale Cemetery Trust
Awarded $14,592
Smythesdale Cemetery Trust – A Tribute to the Women of the District
Sunbury Family History Society Inc.
Awarded $15,000
Digitisation: The Sunbury News
Tatura and District Historical Society Inc.
Awarded $15,000
Tatura Guardian Digitisation
The Chaffey Trail Reference Group
Awarded $13,068
Chaffey Trail Ambassador Program
Tweddle Child and Family Health Service
Awarded $6,000
Tweddle 2020 – From the First 100 Years to the First 1,000 days
Valencia Soldier’s Memorial Hall Committee
Awarded $2,500
Digitisation and preserving of 1950s-60s local films
Wandong History Group Inc.
Awarded $2,259
Purchase new equipment
Warburton Fire Brigade – Country Fire Authority
Awarded $7,800
Warburton Community Fire History
Warragul and District Historical Society
Awarded $4,182
Digitisation of film and audio tape records of local history
West Wimmera Shire Council (Kaniva Historical Museum)
Awarded $14,836
Digitising Lawloit Times 1910-1929
Wodonga Historical Society Inc.
Awarded $14,414
Extending coverage of the Albury Banner and Wodonga Express
Yarra Libraries (City of Yarra)
Awarded $1,494
Digitisation of Fitzroy Cricket Club Annual Reports 1896-1986
Round 16 Recipients 2017-2018
Ballarat Memorial Concert Band
Awarded $11,590
Ballarat Memorial Concert Band: A Century of Music – Stories of Ballarat
Bendigo Regional Genealogical Society Inc
Awarded $13,453
The Elmore Standard Digitisation Project
Box Hill Historical Society Inc
Awarded $7,650
Chasing the Dragon’s Tale: Researching Box Hill’s Pioneer Chinese Residents
Box Hill Reporter District Cricket Association
Awarded $2,750
Researching, Collecting and Preserving Over 128 Years of the Association’s History
Castlemaine Historical Society Inc
Awarded $850
To Preserve Castlemaine and District History By Digitisation of the Castlemaine
Chinese Australian Family Historicans of Victoria Inc
Awarded $13,232
Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser 1857-1867 Digitisation on Trove
Colac and District Historical Society
Awarded $9,000
Cataloguing of the Johnstone Collection
Dried Fruits Australia
Awarded 7,860
Dried Vine Fruits Industry: Over 100 Years of History and Memorabilia
El Dorado Museum Association
Awarded $11,632
El Dorado Museum Association Collection Storage and Cataloguing Project
Eltham District Historical Society
Awarded $2,530
Furthering the Collection Management Objectives
Essendon Historical Society Inc
Awarded $8,495
Display Cases for Essendon Courthouse Museum Following Major Fire
Falls Creek Historical Society
Awarded $9,598
Falls Creek Heritage, Environment and Arts – Trail Signage Project
Federation University Australia
Awarded $7,000
Mapping Children’s Histories in Ballarat
Foster and District Historical Society Inc
Awarded $5,990
Prom Country History Online
Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative
Awarded $8,474
Development of a Website for the Krowthunkooloong Keeping Place
Halls Gap and Grampians Historical Society
Awarded $1,687
Halls Gap and Grampians HS Online Cataloguing
Heidelberg Historical Society Inc
Awarded $5,346
Conservation Treatments of Framed Paintings and Historic Photographs
Her Place Women’s Museum Australia
Awarded $15,000
Re-imagining the Women’s Mural – A Virtual Tour
Horsham Rural City Council
Awarded $6,500
Community Stories – Local Emergencies
Indigo Shire Council
Awarded $4,895
Indigo Shire Digitisation and Cataloguing Project
Kilmore Historical Society Inc
Awarded $3,581
Kilmore Historical Society Textile Assessment and Conservation Project
Kirrae Health Service
Awarded $15,000
Framlingham Digital Tour
Korumburra and District Historical Society
Awarded $14,415
Digitisation of ‘Great Southern Advocate’
Kyneton Museum
Awarded $14,232
Upgrading Exhibition Display Cases
Maccabi Victoria
Awarded $7,500
Researching, Collecting, Preserving, Sharing and Displaying over 100 Years of Sport as an Integral Part of Jewish Immigration to Victoria
Mission to Seafarers Victoria Inc
Awarded $3,800
Conservation and Display of Records of the Visitors to the Mission to Seafarers 1907-1951
Morwell Historical Society
Awarded $4,227
Morwell Historical Society Display Cabinets
Museums Australia (Victoria) Inc
Awarded $15,000
Small Museums Cataloguing Manual (5th Edition)
Nungurner Community and Coast Action Group
Awarded $2,000
Nungurner Foreshore History Project
Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail Committee Inc
Awarded $5,500
The Story of the Stations
Powerhouse Rowing Club
Awarded $1,062
Researching, Collecting and Preserving over 85 Years of the Association’s History to Produce an E-Book
Queenscliffe Historical Museum Inc
Awarded $2,664
Digitisation of Queenscliffe Historical Museum Collection
Raymond Island History Group
Awarded $4,500
Raymond Island History Group Archival Storage
Red Cliffs and District Historical Society Inc
Awarded $3,900
Red Cliffs Storyposts
Royal Historical Society of Victoria
Awarded $15,000
Private Property – An Exhibition that Explores Human Influence on Victoria’s Landscape
Soldiers Memorial Institute Military Museum
Awarded $6,270
Bendigo 1858-1914 Military Forces Display
Stawell Historical Society
Awarded $594
Creation of a Living History Display
Stick Shed Committee of Management
Awarded $8,646
The Murtoa Stick Shed Informative Website and Signage Project
Tarnagulla Public Hall Committee
Awarded $6,897
Fitout of Town History Archive Room
The Country Women’s Association of Victoria Inc
Awarded $13,519
Saved: The Archives of the Country Women’s Association of Victoria
The Melbourne Camera Club
Awarded $3,687
Melbourne Camera Club Archival Storage Project for Permanent Print Collection
Victorian Canine Association Inc T/A Dogs Victoria
Awarded $13,900
Digitilisation of First 38 Years of Kennel Control Council Gazettes
Netball Victoria
Awarded $2,314
Documenting a Century of Netball in Victoria: Cataloguing, Preserving and Digitising
Women’s Art Register
Awarded $9,582
Women’s Art Register Preservation Project
Wurinbeena Limited
Awarded $15,000
Secrets and Songlines of Bung Yarnda
Yackandandah Golf Course and Recreation Reserve CoM Inc
Awarded $3,500
Interpretative Signage at Yackandandah Golf Course
