Environmental Sustainability Community Partnerships Program

The Environmental Sustainability Community Partnerships Program is open to not-for-profit organisations delivering environmentally focused sustainability benefits to identified local communities. This includes community groups and service providers, registered charities, and other not-for-profit organisations.

Eligible organisations must be able to answer ‘yes’ to the questions below:

a. Are you a not-for-profit organisation?

b. Will your initiative provide a lasting and tangible environmentally sustainable benefit captured below to the community in which you operate?

• Protecting and enhancing our natural landscapes – projects that conserve, preserve or improve biodiversity and natural ecosystems, including projects focused on improving biosecurity or water outcomes, protecting native species, or improving weed management
• Supporting resilient communities – projects that help communities prepare for and mitigate the effects of extreme weather events on communities and on the environment. For example, bushfire, flood, tsunami, drought, and so on.
• Facilitating a green energy future – projects that maximise efficient use of energy and reduce reliance on non-renewable energy sources, promote or increase electrification, and/or reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Encouraging responsible consumption – projects that increase recycling, encourage circular economy, decrease consumption of non-renewable resources, decrease pollution, decrease waste sent to landfill, and/or reduce ecological footprint.
• Protecting cultural heritage – projects that protect and rehabilitate culturally important land and water

c. Is your organisation located, or does your organisation deliver services, within the specified region?

d. Do you hold an ABN for the applicable organisation? Or will your grant be supported by an incorporated not-for-profit organisation?

e. Is your postcode listed as eligible in the specified postcodes?

Grants of up to $5,000 are available through the Environmental Sustainability Community Partnerships Program.

If your initiative costs more than that, you are still able to apply – you will simply need to demonstrate in your application how you plan to raise the remainder of the funds needed to ensure you can successfully deliver your initiative.

Organisations are encouraged to apply for any amount between $500 and $5,000 through the program.

Transgrid has set five sustainability priority areas that guide our work. These five areas are where we can make the most significant sustainability-related impact. Environment is one of these priority areas. More information on these priority areas can be found in our FY25 Annual Sustainability Report.

For a step-by-step guide on how to apply, click the ‘Apply Now’ button.

You must apply through SmartyGrants, the most-used grant making system in Australia, to help facilitate all applications. You can find out more about SmartyGrants by visiting their website http://www.smartygrants.com.au.

Transgrid is utilising SmartyGrants, the most-used grant making system in Australia, to help facilitate all applications. SmartyGrants provides an online platform where applicants can apply and upload all necessary documents, plus follow the progress of their application. It is run by a not-for-profit organisation in Australia where all information is stored safely within a secure network. Having this online platform will help streamline the application and assessment process, making it a much easier experience for all involved.

The SmartyGrants platform is used by multiple Federal and State government departments, plus major organisations to manage their community grants.

You can email us at cpp@transgrid.com.au or phone our Community Information Line on 1800 222 537 and we will assist.

Transgrid reserves the right to partially fund your initiative and specify where funds must be directed. If the program is heavily subscribed, we may choose to offer successful applicants less than the full amount requested to support a broad set of community initiatives.

We require some forms of evidence of costs (at least two quotes or other proof of the cost of works) as part of each grant application.

No. Operational expenses are not considered eligible for Community Partnerships Program funding. If you believe operational costs form an important part of your initiative, include these costs as part of your application with an explanation of why they should be considered.

Transgrid reserves the right to partially fund your initiative and specify where funds must be directed.

Yes. Eligible organisations can apply for Community Partnerships Program funding for multiple eligible initiatives within the same grant round. Each initiative must be addressed in its own application, and each application will be assessed individually.

Yes. Each community organisation will need to submit a separate application and indicate who the partner organisation/s are in the application.

No. If an application is successful and receives Community Partnerships Program funding, it will not be eligible for funding in future grant rounds.

No. As part of the Community Partnerships Program eligibility criteria, initiatives that receive funding must directly benefit communities located in the identified areas of Eastern Creek, Newcastle, Tamworth and Orange.

You must be contactable and available during the period after the closing date, which is 2 March 2026. As part of the screening process for all applications, a Transgrid representative may contact your organisation by phone or email.

To ensure your application can progress smoothly, please ensure all contact details supplied to Transgrid are correct.

If Transgrid is not able to contact your organisation for more information or answers to questions, your application may not progress through the screening process.

All applicants will be notified via email of the outcome of their application at the conclusion of the assessment period.

Sometimes applications can take longer to process. If you have critical dates for securing funding, please tell us this in your application and we will do our best to assist you, but we cannot provide any assurances or guarantees.

After receiving notification that their grant application was successful, applicants should receive grant funds within 30 business days of funding acceptance and providing an invoice or payment details (any missing information will delay payment).

Expenditure of funds received through the Environmental Sustainability Community Partnerships Program must be completed within six (6) months of the date of the grant, unless otherwise agreed in writing with Transgrid.

If grant funding is not expected to be spent in full within the timeframe specified by Transgrid, you may request an extension to the timeframe in writing. If an extension to the timeframe is not granted, you must spend the funds within this time, or you will be asked to refund any amount not used.

Transgrid is using a third-party supplier (SmartyGrants) to process grants and sponsorship applications. Please ensure you take the time to read the Privacy Policy available on the SmartyGrants page to understand how your personal information will be managed.

Please email cpp@transgrid.com.au or phone 1800 222 537.

Please have a look at our Sustainability website here, or email any questions to sustainability@transgrid.com.au.