Community Projects

The NLC’s Community Projects team works with Aboriginal groups to plan projects that benefit their community and supports them to make these projects happen.

This is a free service for Aboriginal groups who want to work together to do good things for their communities.

You can see examples of projects undertaken by Aboriginal groups and the Community Projects team by visiting the 'Groups working with Community Projects' page.

To learn more about how Community Projects works, read the Community Planning & Development Framework 2022-26 document at the bottom of this webpage.

The Community Projects team will help you to plan projects following an 8-step journey or pathway. First they will help your group to think about what is important and what you want to change for the future. This will help you to set clear goals for your projects, such as:

• Supporting strong culture
• Supporting young people
• Creating pathways for training and education
• Connection with country
• Supporting employment
• Strong governance
• Increased health and wellbeing
• Pride in identity and place

The Community Projects team will help your group plan and invest in projects that benefit your priorities.

By working with the Community Projects team your Aboriginal group will also develop practical skills like planning, budgeting, problem-solving, project management and monitoring and evaluation.

These skills will help your group make strong decisions now and in the future.

The Community Projects team can help your Aboriginal group apply for funding through grants, giving you more options to help your community.

You will also be able to apply for funding through the Matched Fund Program.

The Matched Fund Program provides dollar-for-dollar matched funding for projects that Traditional Owners develop using their income from land use agreements.

For groups that receive small amounts or no income for their land use agreements, the Matched Fund Program provides the opportunity to apply for a contribution of $50,000 towards a project that benefits their community (or more if the group have additional grant funding).

Visit our page on Matched Funding Program to find out more.

To understand more about the role and responsibilities of your group, the Community Projects team and how they work together to do community projects, read the Participation Agreement located at the bottom of this page. If your group decides to work with the Community Projects team, this agreement is made so everyone understands their role.

Any Aboriginal group in the Top End can apply to work with the Community Projects team.

If your group receives some land use agreement income and your group decides to allocate at least $100,000 per year to community projects, the Community Projects team will support you to plan and manage your community projects.

For groups that receive small amounts (under $200,000 per year), or no income for their land use agreements, your group can apply to work with the Community Projects team if you:

• Are a recognised Aboriginal group
• Demonstrate strong leadership as Aboriginal people willing to drive change (eg. self motivated, take initiative, have clear ideas and goals)
• Demonstrate strong community development aspirations (eg. vision, project ideas)
• Are willing to undertake a participatory planning process and develop a group vision, governance skills and project management skills
• Are willing to set aside future land-use agreement income to community projects
• Identify a project planning group of at least four group members
• Commit to consistent participation (four days of meetings per year or as required with a majority of planning group members).

Additional criteria must be met in order to access the Matched Fund Program. These details can be found on the 'Matched Funding Program' page.

The first step to working with the Community Projects team is to complete an application form and email the completed form to cpd@nlc.org.au.

The application can be found at the bottom of this page.

You can speak with a Community Projects team member to get help with the application process - call 0407 493 834

Before applying, please make sure that your Aboriginal group meets the criteria detailed in the Can my Aboriginal group participate section above.

The Community Projects team will contact you within 21 days of receiving your application to tell you whether your group has been successful.

The Community Projects team will try to support all Aboriginal groups who submit an application form and meet the criteria for an eligible group.

If the demand for support from Community Projects outweighs the team’s current capacity, the Community Projects team will prioritise groups from regions that have low rates of participation in the CP Program.