Heritage Projects (Jobs Fund)

About the Fund

Please note that applications for the Heritage component of the Jobs Fund closed on May 22 2009.

No further projects will be funded under this program.

The Australian Government provided $60 million for heritage projects as part of its $650 million Jobs Fund. This program included a number of separate components focused on protecting, conserving and promoting:

National Heritage-listed places - a total of $16 million, with individual grants of $50,000 to $2 million.
National Trust properties - a total of $12 million, with individual grants of $20,000 to $2 million.
Community heritage places (large projects) of local, state or national significance - a total of $11.4 million, with individual grants of $100,000 to $2 million.
Community heritage places (small projects) - a total of $10 million, with individual grants of $20,000 to $100,000.
Natural heritage places, particularly World Heritage - a total of $8.6 million, with individual grants of $200,000 to $2 million.

Evaluation of the Jobs Fund Heritage component

An evaluation of the Jobs Fund Heritage component was conducted in 2011 by two independent reviewers. Summaries of their final evaluation reports are available below:

Funded projects

Details of heritage projects funded through the 2008-09 and 2009-10 Jobs Fund funding rounds are available below. The majority of heritage projects were completed by 30 June 2010.

2009-2010 funded projects

2008-2009 funded projects

What were the criteria for projects?

All proposals were required to meet the following 'gateway criteria':

Projects would be in areas experiencing high unemployment, a significant rise in unemployment or employment or economic vulnerability
Projects must be viable and ready to start
Funding for heritage projects would not extend past 2009-10. Projects would be expected to be self-sufficient and/or not require Commonwealth funding beyond 30 June 2010.

Heritage projects also needed to deliver positive heritage outcomes. Issues which were taken into consideration in assessing heritage outcomes included:

would the project contribute to the heritage values of a place, including conservation, protection, adaptation or interpretation works?
was the project consistent with the principles of the Burra Charter, management plans currently in place, and state, territory and Commonwealth legislation?
would the project provide ongoing direct and indirect social and economic benefits in the community, such as by increasing tourism, or increasing the appropriate utilisation/value/rental returns of heritage properties?
to what extent would the project contribute to one or more of the priority heritage themes ('A Free and Fair Australia'; 'Peopling a Nation'; and 'Diversity of Landscapes') identified by the Australian Heritage Council, and include elements designed to promote awareness of the activity, and of the social and economic value of the heritage property?

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Heritage

Grants and funding