Submit Applications for Uptown Grant Program (Round 3) – Australia

The Uptown Grant Program aims to enable the development of districts across Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Lower Hunter and Greater Newcastle, and Illawarra-Shoalhaven into unique going-out destinations by supporting formally aligned groups of businesses in a local area (District Teams) to collectively work on enhancing their district’s offering and building consumer engagement with their district.

The Program is developed by the Office of the 24-Hour Economy Commissioner (O24HEC) and administered by Create NSW, both within the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport (DCITHS).

Objectives

• The Program will provide funding to District Teams for coordination and consumer engagement activities to meet the objectives of:
  • increasing coordination and collaboration between businesses in distinct geographical areas
  • supporting business models that allow for partnerships, including major events, brands and government
  • increasing the marketability of unique districts with distinct products developed
  • increasing consumer awareness and engagement with districts.

Funding Information

• The Uptown Grant Program will provide the following funding opportunity:
  • New Applicants – from $100,000 (excl. GST) to $200,000 (excl. GST) of seed funding to eligible District Teams to coordinate their district and for consumer engagement.
  • Previous Recipients – from $50,000 (excl. GST) to $100,000 (excl. GST) of funding for previous Uptown Grant Program recipients that are working to selfsustainability and growing consumer engagement.

Eligible Activities

• District Coordination
  • A minimum of 50% of the total allocated grant funding must be spent on a coordination function for your District.
  • The coordination function may take the form of:
    • salary/wages and entitlements for employees specifically engaged for the project, i.e. the direct employment of a staff member to manage the coordination of your district and its activities
    • contract employment of a staff member(s) to manage the coordination of your District and its activities
    • third-party professional services to manage the coordination of your District and its activities
• Consumer Engagement
  • The remaining funding may be used for marketing and promotional activities to increase consumer awareness and engagement with the District. This activity may take the form of:
    • Brand development
      • Brand and asset development
      • Online presence development e.g. website, social media profiles, Neon Marketplace profile etc.
    • Marketing activities
      • Advertising and/or marketing campaign (such as design and production costs, social ads and advertising fees)
      • Public relations activity (such as PR agency costs, influencer fees, promotional material distributed at a District launch event)
    • Trialling multi-in-venue events or activations (Conditional)
      • The trial of new or enhanced multi-in-venue events or activations to encourage ongoing visitation to businesses in your District, may include the following costs:
        • Artist fees
        • AV and staging equipment hire
        • Program and production development fees.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Entities :
  • District Teams must be or provide evidence of becoming one of the following entities to apply:
    • Incorporated Association;
    • Company Limited by Guarantee; or
    • Non-distributing Co-operative.
  • Applicants are not eligible to apply if, at the time of application, they:
    • are not currently or becoming one of the above eligible entities; or
    • have received funding for the purpose of a Community Improvement District or a Business Improvement District in the past five years. This includes businesses that have multiple ABNs and have already used one of their ABNs to claim a grant.
  • Eligible Entities must, at the time of application:
    • have an applicable Australian Business Number (ABN) for the entity applying;
    • be registered for GST or provide evidence of GST registration application;
    • have a bank account with an Australian financial institution, or provide evidence of application;
    • have a minimum of five registered members of the applying entity based in the district;
    • have a letter of no objection from the relevant council organization and/or contact details of a relevant representative from a local council organisation that has agreed to be contacted in relation to this application;
    • be solvent; and
    • be able to execute a funding deed with the NSW Government if your application is successful.
• Eligible Local Government Areas (LGAs)
  • Eligible entities representing a District Team must be located within one or more of the following eligible LGAs in Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Lower Hunter and Greater Newcastle, and Illawarra-Shoalhaven.
    • Bayside Council, Blacktown City Council, Blue Mountains City Council, Burwood Council, Camden Council, Campbelltown City Council, Central Coast Council, Cessnock City Council, City of Canada Bay Council, City of Canterbury-Bankstown, City of Parramatta Council, City of Ryde, City of Sydney, Cumberland City Council, Fairfield City Council, Georges River Council, Hawkesbury City Council, Hornsby Shire Council, Hunter’s Hill Council, Inner West Council, Kiama Municipal Council, Ku-ring-gai Council, Lake Macquarie City Council, Lane Cove Council, Liverpool City Council, Maitland City Council, Mosman Municipal Council, City of Newcastle, North Sydney Council, Northern Beaches Council, Penrith City Council, Port Stephens Council, Randwick City Council, Shellharbour City Council, Shoalhaven City Council, Strathfield Council, Sutherland Shire Council, The Hills Shire Council, Waverley Council, Willoughby City Council, Wollondilly Shire Council, Wollongong City Council, Woollahra Municipal Council.

For more information, visit Create NSW.