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2025 BirdLife Australia Community Grants

Applications close Monday 26th May 2025.

Photographed by John Barkla

About Birdlife Australia’s Community Grants

BirdLife Australia is fighting to save birds and the natural ecosystems on which their survival depends. The Bird Conservation Strategy outlines our focus areas of Species, Sites, Systems and Societies.

To achieve BirdLife Australia’s vision that by 2050, birds and nature are valued, conserved and restored, sustaining a healthy planet for the benefit of all people, we must multiply our impact by strengthening our existing partnerships, establishing new ones and collaborating with local communities to lead change.

BirdLife Australia Community Grants support this by empowering passionate Australian groups to act for birds, with up to $10,000 in funding for projects that align with BirdLife Australia’s Bird Conservation Strategy.

Grant Streams

In 2025, the Community Grants Program is divided into two streams: Community Participation and Volunteering and Conservation and Applied Research.

Stream 1 provides funding for projects which encourage community engagement and volunteering in the conservation, protection and advocacy for Australian birds and their habitats.

Stream 2 provides funding for conservation projects which conserve birds at a local or landscape scale; or contribute applied research into bird conservation, and projects which assist in meeting conservation strategy goals.

Your project may have overlap between these two streams. For example, a project which involves habitat restoration works may focus on engaging new volunteers to allow the group to expand the amount of on-ground conservation work that they can do. In this instance, it would fall under Stream 1. If the project focused on equipment purchases or conducting research to complete works more effectively, it would fall under Stream 2.

If you are unsure which stream your project falls under, please contact us and a member of our team will get in touch to discuss it with you.

Funding and Support for Community and Capacity-building Projects

We offer grants of up to $10,000 for community and capacity-building projects that align with and support the delivery of BirdLife Australia’s Bird Conservation Strategy. This includes funding for equipment, signage and vegetation restoration, as well as volunteers, community education, training and advocacy.

How to apply for this grant

Complete the ‘Community Grant Application’ form (below). Applications close on Monday 26th May 2025. The Application must be completed and signed by the person/people responsible for delivering the project.

Community Grants How To Guide and FAQ 2025 – PDF
Community Grants How To Guide and FAQ 2025 – Word

Assessment criteria

What will the project be assessed against?

We are looking for projects that support the implementation of BirdLife Australia’s Bird Conservation Strategy. 

All grant applications in both streams must:

  • Align with BirdLife Australia’s Bird Conservation Strategy
  • Have clear and measurable outcome(s)
  • Comply with BirdLife Australia’s policies and values, and manage project risk (including OHS)
  • Have all bird surveys standardised and submitted to Birdata
  • Be for activities or equipment and materials that have not yet been delivered or purchased prior to the closing date of the 2025 Community Grants Program applications (funding will not be given retrospectively)
  • Be completed within 12 months of receipt of funds
  • Be conducted within Australia or benefit species regularly occurring in Australia (overseas-based groups will not be funded)
  • Comply with BirdLife Australia’s Birding Ethics and obtain the necessary ethics permits
  • Respect the rights of First Nations Peoples and, where possible, engage with local First Nations groups in the design and delivery of the project
  • Demonstrate cost-effectiveness
  • Demonstrate long-term sustainability or impact beyond the 12-month funding period
  • Demonstrate collaboration and partnerships with other groups or organisations
  • Salary costs are unlikely to be funded
  • Applications that demonstrate in-kind contributions of services will be viewed favourably

Please note: if you are seeking funding for your project from multiple sources concurrently, in the event that you secure funding from another source for the same costs, please notify BirdLife Australia promptly to discuss.

Eligibility

Who can apply?

Any community group or volunteer organisation which meets the listed criteria can apply for a BirdLife Australia Community Grant, including BirdLife Australia branches and action groups. Your grant application will be reviewed by BirdLife Australia’s Community Grants Coordinator and Community Grants and Awards Committee to ensure eligibility.

Please note that we will only accept one submission for a Community Grant per round from an individual, community group or branch.

Exclusions

Projects or activities which are not eligible to receive funding in 2024 are:

  • Wildlife rescues or shelters
  • University research projects (see Stuart Leslie Student Grants)
  • Projects with a commercial goal
  • Long-term or ongoing employment positions
Stream 1: Community Participation and Volunteering Assessment Criteria

BirdLife Australia is striving to achieve an enormous, world-changing goal. To protect birds from extinction, we must empower communities which want to protect their patch and address threats to birds. It requires the community to demonstrate its love for birds and nature, being empowered to come together to work to protect habitats, champion birds and create the conditions for change.

Stream 1 provides funding for projects that encourage community engagement and volunteering to appreciate, conserve and speak up for birds.

Stream 1 projects must:

  • Increase participation in the conservation and protection of birds through education, community engagement and/ or volunteering
  • Increase the number of people supporting BirdLife Australia and its Bird Conservation Strategy.

Priority will be given to projects that include any of the following:

  • Increase diversity, inclusion and accessibility in participation
  • Support the growth of leadership in volunteering
  • Support the growth in the number of volunteers in a current group, or the development of new volunteer groups
  • Demonstrate a journey towards behaviour change
  • A focus on locations or species of greatest need, as outlined in BirdLife Australia’s Bird Conservation Strategy.
Stream 2: Conservation and Applied Research Assessment Criteria

BirdLife Australia prides itself on finding evidence-based solutions to achieve fundamental change in saving birds. To succeed, we partner with First Nations people, local communities and our dedicated volunteer network on projects which use rigorous scientific data to achieve outcomes.

Stream 2 provides funding for conservation projects that protect birds and their habitats at a local or landscape scale; conduct research into bird conservation; or assist in meeting conservation strategy goals.
Stream 2 projects must:

Priority will be given to projects which:

  • Benefit species which are a high conservation priority
  • Follow best practice conservation project design (see page 9 of the research strategy)
  • Collaborate with relevant BirdLife Australia staff and/ or external stakeholders*
  • Lead to novel solutions to bird conservation problems

* We strongly suggest that you contact us to discuss your project ahead of time. Projects that align with our existing work and collaborate with staff on outcomes for our conservation work have a higher success rate. Contact us to be connected with the relevant staff member.

Results and data generated by Stream 2 projects are expected to be made available in one of BirdLife Australia’s scientific publications. Support for publication can be provided by the Science and Conservation Planning team if required.