Community grants

Annual grants for local community projects

Sydney Water, through its annual Community Grants Program, supports local community groups across Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, and the Illawarra area.

With a shared goal to build thriving and sustainable communities, the Community Grants Program supports project teams with innovative ideas to put projects into action that benefit local communities.

Applications are sought from grassroots community groups, volunteer organisations, education institutions, local government with community partners, sporting groups, and other community-minded organisations that share Sydney Water’s vision (1 MB) of creating a better life for today and generations to come.

The 2023 grant applications are now closed.


2024 dates

  • Applications Open: 9:00 AM Monday 6 May 2024
  • Applications Close: 5:00 PM Monday 1 July 2024
  • Announcement of Community Grant recipients: July-August 2024
  • Project completion date: May 2025

Any questions please direct your enquiry to communitygrants@sydneywater.com.au

Your privacy

Sydney Water and Good2Give collect and use your personal information so that we can assess your grant application as part of the Community Grants Program. Your personal and business information will be shared with designated Sydney Water and Good2Give employees and disposed of in accordance with our recordkeeping obligations. Successful applicants personal and business information may be disclosed as part of Sydney Water awarding applicants, including internal and external publications. To learn more about how we manage your personal information, please refer to Sydney Water and Good2Give’s privacy policies


2023 grant recipients

2023 Sydney Water Community Grant recipient and project 

Suburb

The Scout Association of Australia New South Wales Branch

Recycling Water Project

Helensburgh

Communities in Fellowship Together Incorporated

Water Wise Community Education

Blacktown

Inner West Council

Pioneers Memorial Park - Water Saving Project  

Leichardt

Integricare

Rainwater in action

Northbridge

Council of the City of Shellharbour

Water sensitive landscaping - Jock Brown Sportsfield  

Barrack Heights

Sans Souci Community Veggie Patch

Wicking Beds for Community Garden  

Sans Souci

Illawarra United Representative Football Club

The Illawarra Stingrays Smart Irrigation Project  

Fairy Meadow


Past community grant projects

Western Sydney University – Building Citizen Science Literacies for the Hawkesbury-Nepean River Project

Western Sydney University (WSU), with its partners, released its first Hawkesbury-Nepean River Report Card. The report card combined scientific, social, and cultural data collected by scientists and citizen scientists, and visually demonstrated how local people connect daily to the river. 

Project team members worked collaboratively with First Nations peoples to write a statement on the cultural significance of ‘Water in Ngurra (Country)’ and the Alliance’s ongoing commitment to partnership moving forward. 

A Waterbug training workshop for local residents and Landcare volunteers provided advice on using and understanding the Stream Pollution Index (SPI) to monitor the water quality at Cattai Creek using apps. Participants also learned to identify and score macroinvertebrates and upload data to dedicated apps for sharing and storage.  

Total Environment Centre – Ocean Action Pod project

The Ocean Action Pod Project engaged adults and children with the growing problem of plastic pollution. The Total Environment Centre used its Sydney Water Community Grant to run an Ocean Action Pod activation at the University of Technology / Ultimo TAFE NSW Green Market Week event.

The project encouraged and empowered over 300 students to make responsible choices and choose tap water over bottled water, with the aim of reducing single-use plastic bottles impacting the environment.

Sydney Water representatives attended the event alongside Ocean Action Pod to highlight how plastic bottles and other litter impact our precious waterways and systems, and how our drinking water is treated and tested to ensure it remains some of the best drinking water in the world. 

Pledging to drink tap water with Ocean Action Pod.

Learning about the urban water cycle.