More information about the Small Grants program
Approval of funding for an application is subject to the funds available.
Applications for funding will be assessed as to whether they will achieve a reconciliation outcome and whether they address one of the NSWRC's Srategic Objectives.
Local reconciliation projects are projects which promote tolerance and seek to change racist attitudes that prevent Aboriginal people participating fully in community life. A reconciliation outcome can be defined as "the promotion of community harmony by changing community attitudes and responses to social issues that affect the Aboriginal and wider community."
Appraisal of applications will be undertaken by the NSWRC Board Executive. In assessing successful grant applications, Board members will consider whether the project planning estimates are realistic and whether the project could proceed if no grant were awarded.
Any individual who is not a member of a registered Local Reconciliation Group (LRG), or any organisation that is not a registered LRG member group may not access the Small Grants program.
Applicants who have outstanding acquittals from previous grants will not be funded.
EnquiriesAll enquiries about the grants program will be made to the NSWRC Secretariat.
Application forms will be available from the Secretariat.
NSW Reconciliation Council
Ph: 02 9219 0719
Fax: 02 9219 0790
Level 13 Centennial Plaza, Tower B 280 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills 2010
Email: nswrc@daa.nsw.gov.au
Small grants winners
2004 (April)
Wellington Social Justice and Reconciliation Group - Family Fun Day
Wellington Social Justice and Reconciliation Group held a Family Fun Day to commemorate the anniversary of the town's local Bridge Walk. There were performances, story telling, a karaoke competition, touch footy (The Royden Griffen Cup), food, arts and crafts, and games and activities. Guest speakers included Linda Burney, Aden Ridgeway, as well as Wellington Mayor Tom Knowles and Aboriginal Elder Aunty Joyce Williams.
Blue Mountains ANTaR - 'Sing you Brave People' history book for children
Blue Mountains ANTaR is publishing a text book for upper primary school children that outlines the local history of three Darug and Gundungurra people. The book covers the time from 1790s to 1957. Lynette Stanger, Katoomba resident and Darug/Gundungurra descendent, wrote the text and Kim Mooney, a local Indigenous artist, is completing the illustrations.
Ngullingah-gah Wundardun Casino Reconciliation Group - Community Reconciliation Golf Day
Ngullingah-gah Wundardun Casino Reconciliation Group hosted a Reconciliation Golf Day. Free day-care, entertainment and food were provided. Guest speakers included Casino Elder Aunty Phyllis Torrens, Mayor of Casino Charlie Cox, and Treasurer for NSW Reconciliation Council Don Jolly.
Women's Reconciliation Group - 'Around the Kitchen Table' multimedia education kit
Women's Reconciliation Group is developing a multimedia education kit that will complement and extend understanding and awareness of issues raised in the video Around the Kitchen Table. In partnership with the NSW Reconciliation Council Women's Reconciliation Group are publishing a module based teaching book, as well as an electronic version of the teaching modules (internet and CD based).
Winga Myamly Minto Reconciliation Group - Ceremony in Memorial of the Appin Massacre.
Winga Myamly Minto Reconciliation Group used their grant to help cover the cost of staging a ceremony in memorial of the Appin Massacre. Food and transport were provided for the memorial ceremony and an Aboriginal signer/dancer performed on the day. The event brings Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people together giving them the opportunity to sit down and talk 'Winga Myamly' so that each can begin to form better ways of understanding and working together for justice for Aboriginal people in the area.
Lismore People for Reconciliation - Sorry Day launch and Reconciliation Week 2004
Lismore People for Reconciliation held a Sorry Day Launch and Reconciliation Week activities which consisted of three main events. The first was a Sorry Day performance and Film screening for schools which included an Elders welcome, singing, writing competition readings, and screening of locally produced films. The second was the evening part of the Sorry Day performance; Chris Edwards discussed clips of his film Cry From the Heart. The third event was a Reconciliation BBQ and 'Yarn Up' which included group discussions.
2003
Eastern Suburbs Organisation for Reconciliation Australia (ESORA) - 'Treaty Talks' booklet.
Over five years to 2004 ESORA collected transcripts of speeches and stories on the subject of Treaty. These addresses were made at various Reconciliation events and were recorded with full permission of the speakers. ESORA used their small grant to produce a booklet containing these speeches. This booklet is an important resource for anyone wishing to know more about a Treaty in Australia, and it is a record of the process towards a treaty. It will be distributed to schools, libraries and other reconciliation groups.
ReconciliACTION Network - 'Youth ReconciliACTION Music Event'
ReconciliACTION will hold a social justice music concert in July 2004 to promote Indigenous rights and Reconciliation issues and to encourage the involvement of young people in the movement. One of the aims is to attract people to the concert who might not usually attend a reconciliation event, and as a result, increase awareness of these issues. The concert will also give emerging Indigenous and non-Indigenous bands the opportunity to perform alongside well known musicians such as The Herd.
Lane Cove Residents for Reconciliation - Journey of Spirit: Woodland Bay Reconciliation Memorial Ceremony
Woodford Bay is the site of the first recorded encounter in the Lane Cove region, on 14 February 1790, between the Cameraygal people and the British during the governance of Captain Arthur Philip, Governor of the Colony of NSW. Lane Cove Residents for Reconciliation used their grant to hold a memorial ceremony, as well as erect a plaque, recognising the Cameraygal people's defence against the British invasion. Recognising Aboriginal resistance undoes myths about 'peaceful settlement' of Australia, and acknowledges the truth of Australia's shared history. The plaque was jointly unveiled by Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, Governor of NSW, and Robert Welsh, Chairperson Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council.
Aboriginal Support Group Manly Pittwater - Dancers for the group's annual Sorry Day event in 2004.
Aboriginal Support Group Many Pittwater used their grant to pay for an Indigenous dance group to provide entertainment at their annual Sorry Day event. The Indigenous dancers were popular at previous years Sorry Day events, and public attendance has grown each year. The dancers teach aspects of Indigenous culture in a fun and lively way, and hope to show how dreaming of the past relates to their way of life today.
Lismore People for Reconciliation - 'Faycing Up' scholarship
'Faycing Up' is the name the late Aunty Fay Smith, Bundjalung Elder, gave her music group. It has been adopted as the title for an arts scholarship honouring her memory and her dreams for young Kooris and Gooris. Lismore People for Reconciliation used their grant to develop this scholarship, and have held 'Faycing Up' creative workshops for Indigenous children aged 5 to 15 years, as stage one in the process.
Older Women's Network's Aboriginal Support Circle - 'Steppin' Up and Speakin' Out'
Older Women's Network collected stories from generations of Indigenous women who have worked within and beyond their own communities to achieve social justice for their people and published them in an anthology. Altogether the collection spans the period from the 1920s to the present and reveals some of the diversity and complexities in Aboriginal women's lives. There are stories of mothers, grandmothers and aunties, nurturers and carers, educators, activists, artists and musicians, some women well known and some women known mainly in their own communities.
Order the book from the OWN website: http://www.own.org.au
The Kyogle Reconciliation Group organised reconciliation activities during the 'Kyogle Fairmount Festival' in November, including Reconciliation workshops, a bush foods' BBQ, a Didgeridoo playing competition & cross-cultural musicians and performers.