Connecting to Country

The Connecting to Country program supports projects that enable Western Australian Aboriginal people and organisations to undertake on Country activities that foster the intergenerational transfer of  knowledge, preservation of culture and strengthening of communities.

A group of Warlayirti Artists walking on Country
Image credit: Passing stories down to the next generations. Ngurra Kutjuwarra (On Country, Together), Warlayirti Artists Aboriginal Corporation, Great Sandy Desert, Western Australia, June 2021. Photo by Lucinda White.

The program intends to:

  • facilitate sharing of cultural knowledge and skills between generations, such as the preservation of language, stories and dance
  • recognise Aboriginal cultural leadership within the Aboriginal community and support leadership development in young people
  • contribute to stronger community mental health and wellbeing
  • strengthen, protect and maintain traditional ways of maintaining cultural knowledge.

Eligibility

Applications are open to Western Australian based:

  • Aboriginal individuals
  • Aboriginal groups including youth, community, men’s and women’s groups
  • Aboriginal-led organisations including art, community, cultural, language, media, health, or ranger organisations
  • organisations that work with Aboriginal people in community, including local government authorities and organisations that deliver targeted services to Aboriginal people or communities; if their applications demonstrate:
    • strong Aboriginal governance, leadership and self-determination
    • evidence of significant Aboriginal community involvement in the project including consultation, planning, decision-making and project management.

Funding overview

Closed, opening later

Opening 2 September 2025

Who can apply

  • Aboriginal communities
  • Community organisations
  • Education institutions
  • Groups
  • Individuals
  • Industry representative bodies
  • Local governments

Amount available

  • Connecting to Country: Up to $25,000

Guidelines

You must read the guidelines before submitting an application as they provide essential information.

Connecting to Country guidelines

Funding rounds

Round Open Draft review Close Projects beginning after Notification Category
2023-24 9:00am 31 October 2023 4:00pm 18 January 2024 4:00pm 1 February 2024 1 May 2024 Approximately 12 weeks after round closing date
September 2024 9:00am 3 September 2024 4:00pm 26 September 2024 4:00pm 10 October 2024 15 January 2025 Approximately 12 weeks after round closing date
September 2025 9:00am 2 September 2025 4:00pm 25 September 2025 4:00pm 9 October 2025 15 January 2026 Approximately 12 weeks after round closing date Connecting to Country

Successful applications

Filter

TRIM IDProgramFunding RoundCategoryDisciplineApplicantProject titlePostcodeDescriptionAmount AwardedApplication StatusGrant amount requestedApplication Received DateDecision DateYear
Connecting to CountryNot ApplicableWajarri Yamaji Aboriginal CorporationWajarri Yamaji Youth: Documenting Elders' Stories Video Project6530The Wajarri Yamaji Aboriginal Corporation will provide up to 20 young Wajarri people with the opportunity to take part in 2 week-long workshops. These will result in the production of 8, up to 5-minute video stories documenting the journeys of 4 Wajarri Elders and the stories of 4 culturally significant Wajarri sites, as told by the Traditional owners/custodians for each site. The activity will run from March to May 2025 on Country located in the Mid West and Gascoyne regions.25,0002024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentJamukurnu-Yapalikurnu (Western Desert Lands) Aboriginal CorporationRestoration of Martu Names to the Percival Lakes6004This project involves a field trip to record the traditional Martu names of the Percival Lakes system with the Elders and knowledge holders and the younger generation. The field trip will include returning to Country and sharing cultural knowledge, visiting important cultural places and sharing stories between April and October 2025. The outcome will be the correct Martu names being restored to the Percival Lakes system.25,0002024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentCity of CanningNgalang Kadjin Moorditj Youth Program6107Ngalang Kadjin Moorditj - Our Spirit Strong - is an Aboriginal Youth Cultural and Career Pathway Program. It connects Aboriginal young people, specifically male students in Years 9 and 10, with Noongar Elders and Cultural Knowledge Holders to learn dance, song, songlines, storytelling, bush food, medicine and cultural knowledge over 7 weeks in 202511,3002024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentGlass Jar Australia LimitedThe Shooting Stars Nhanda and Malgana Cultural Camp6014The Shooting Stars Nhanda and Malgana Cultural Camp engages Aboriginal girls (years 5-12) participating in the Shooting Stars program at Carnarvon Community College. The girls will travel to Gutharraguda Country (Shark Bay) in May 2025 to be immersed in a week of cultural experiences, learning the history and way of life of the Nhanda and Malgana people. The camp will enhance student well being, self determination and school engagement by connecting Indigenous children to culture and country.15,7852024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentRohan CollardKuop Maaman Koodjal Bidi (Good Men Two Paths)6107This project aims to bolster the cultural leadership, knowledge, connections, and mental health and wellbeing of Young Maaman who are involved in at-risk and/or offending behaviors. This will be achieved by reinforcing their cultural identity and promoting healing through on-Country cultural experiences throughout 2025.25,0002024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentJordanna EadesNgalak Bilya Moort/We Are River People6100This project will see a senior Noongar linguist and Kaniyang Elders interpreting a detailed explorers' map of the Blackwood River identifying original place names. On-Country interviews with Elders will gather language, knowledge and stories associated with these places. Younger generations will record the interviews, fostering inter-generational learning and young artists will guide the creation of a cultural map.24,3792024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentShandell CummingsMoort Yorga Yardee - Women Coming Together to Keep Boodja, Moort and Kaatitdjin Strong6328This project will engage Elders and women within the community to participate in Women's Bush Camps, undertake inter-generational knowledge transfers and explore leadership for the future.25,0002024-25
Connecting to CountryCross-art formArdyaloon Art and Culture Aboriginal CorporationIngarldalandij Connecting to Bardi Country6725Funding will enable Bardi cultural leaders and community members to visit ancestral lands, engage in cultural activities, record and document cultural activities, language and stories. Leaders from Ardyaloon will support key cultural activities. Activities may include recording Bardi stories and songs, creating artifacts from different wood types, pearl and pearl shell, and ceremony preparation skills.25,0002024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentShire of QuairadingThe Groves - Preserve, Promote, and Protect6383The Groves project will empower elders, young people, artists and the broader Noongar/Balladong community through visits to The Groves Heritage Listed sacred site to facilitate intergenerational knowledge transfer through learning, preserving and protecting the traditional family stories relating to this site, traditional bush knowledge, life skills, ceremonies and language, through the development of new interpretive signage, murals and educational resources from February to August 2025.25,0002024-25
Connecting to CountryLiterature and writingYongerup Aboriginal CorporationTeaching and Learning Bush Food Knowledge on Goreng Country63302 family-based teaching and learning camps will be held in 2025 on Goreng Country in different seasons to enable intergenerational transfer of living cultural knowledge held by aging, senior Elders. The camps will focus on knowledge associated with providing for families (food gathering). Activities will be documented through video and photography to produce a simple step-by-step bush to plate recipe book for use as a teaching resource.24,8702024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentYiyili Community Indigenous CorporationYiyili Community Learning On-Country6770Students will engage in on-Country learning through various art disciplines, including visual arts, performance, music, and crafts. Activities throughout 2025 will include creating land art using natural materials, traditional painting, storytelling, and dance reflecting cultural narratives. Students will also learn to make traditional crafts, play music and document their experiences through photography and digital mapping, celebrating their connection to land and culture.25,0002024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentWagyl Kaip Southern Noongar Aboriginal CorporationLearning medicine Inter-generational Knowledge Sharing and Bush Medicines on Menang Country6330This project will support on-Country intergenerational knowledge transfer between senior Indigenous women and younger generations, through bush medicine workshops aimed at sharing Traditional Ecological Knowledge and building a sense of community and empowerment. The activity will take place in the Great Southern region, including Albany, from February to June 2025.24,9442024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentWattandee Littlewell Aboriginal CorporationWattandee Elders Connect Camp6701The Wattandee Elders Connect Camp consists of four individual camps in 2025, held in April, June, August, and October. Aimed at strengthening ties to Country and fostering resilience, each camp will focus on inter-generational knowledge transfer, cultural heritage preservation, and community healing through language revival, storytelling and cultural mapping,24,9792024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentGreat Southern Noongar Aboriginal CorporationCaring for Our Future: Mooditj Koolingars (strong kids)6330The Caring for Our Future: Moorditj Koolingars project will provide 4 cultural and on Country activities in the Great Southern for the older children of the Albany Waabiny Time playgroup families, passing on intergenerational knowledge, strengthening family connections and renewing disengaged childrens interest in learning. Led by Elders and families, the hands-on learning will include cooking bush tucker, building family genealogies, making tools and learning about local flora and fauna.25,0002024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentNoongar Kaartdijin Aboriginal CorporationDudja Boordiya Waangkiny (Stage 1) Elder consultation - Kor Koorl Kaartdijin Project6566Dudja Boordiya Waangkiny (Toodyay Elders Yarn) is an Elders consultation from January to February 2025, designed to identify key cultural elements for a proposed learning space including Yarning circle / shade structure in a bush location. Through 4 stages, Kor Koorl Kaartdijin (Return to Knowledge) will guide activities enriched by Noongar Elders and cultural knowledge holders, supporting revitalisation and reconnection with culture.19,3402024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentKelmscott Senior High SchoolAs One Nyitting Program at Kelmscott Senior High School6111Kelmscott Senior High School is engaging the As One Nyitting Program to strengthen Aboriginal students' self-confidence and cultural awareness through time On Country in 2025. The program is supported by the school's Aboriginal community and it will transfer knowledge between generations, preserve culture and encourage leadership.19,8002024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentYawarda Services LtdYawardani Jan-ga for Families6725Much is unknown around the history and deep relationship of Yawarda (horses) and Aboriginal families in the Kimberley region. This project involves bringing Elders, young people and horses together from February to June 2023 to document and discuss the benefits of Yawarda and transfer these stories into video and other formats. Wellbeing and self-worth can be embedded through the sharing of Yawarda stories past and present.24,3002024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentMantjiljarra Yulparirra Pty LtdReconnecting with Yiwarra Kuju: Strengthening Wiluna Martu Cultural Heritage6000The activities involve Traditional Owners taking younger generations on-Country to visit and maintain sacred sites along Yiwarra Kuju (Canning Stock Route). Elders to share stories of the Pujiman (desert-born) and pass down traditional knowledge, including Songlines that shape the cultural landscape. This is necessary to teach and preserve cultural practices, caring for Country and to foster a deep connection to Wiluna Martu heritage, history, and identity for younger generations.24,7622024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentKarla Hart Enterprises Pty LtdFour Day Cultural Camp6108This is an immersive program that will include cultural activities such as gathering traditional foods, cooking on Country, yarning circles designed to enable participants to experience traditional Noongar ways of life and sharing of knowledge. The camp will focus on creating storytelling through song and dance of lived experience cultural practices that currently do not have dances representing the passing of the knowledge.25,0002024-25
Connecting to CountryCommunity arts and cultural developmentCity of MelvilleConnection to Country Weekly After-School Program at Willagee Youth Drop-In6154Connection to Country engages at-risk young people and builds their cultural knowledge, connection to Country and language through a term-based weekly program through Willagee Youth Drop-In in 2025. This year-long project extends previous iterations of Connection to Country through a weekly term-based program, including activities excursions that build deep engagement with Country and Culture and meaningful relationships with Elders and Traditional Knowledge Holders.25,0002024-25
Page reviewed 05 December 2024