Archived Grant Opportunity View - GO5054

The ABA is a Special Account that benefits Aboriginal people living in the Northern Territory (NT) established  under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. The ABA receives monies from the Commonwealth based on the value of royalties generated from mining on Aboriginal land in the NT. 

The ABA funds various activities including the operations of the NT lands councils and ABA Open Grants. ABA Open Grants fund projects delivered in the NT for the benefit of Aboriginal people.

ABA Open Grants proposals should align with the objectives of supporting Indigenous enterprises;  community;  culture, language and leadership; or supporting land, sea and waters management and use.

Applications for ABA Open Grants are reviewed by the ABA Advisory Committee (ABAAC), which provides advice to the Minister for Indigenous Australians. Members of the ABAAC are representatives from across the NT and nominated by their respective land council. 

ABA Open Grants may now be considered for multi-year projects; administrative costs or wages component for non-ongoing employees; projects that could be funded by the government or mainstream services but where the budget may not be available in the short term; and projects where non-Indigenous Australians may deliver a service or project which benefits Indigenous Australians (with evidence of community support). 

Applicants seeking funding for business/enterprise related projects are required to consult with Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) before submitting their application. IBA will provide an independent assessment of their proposal’s viability. Similarly, Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation is required to be consulted for land management or agriculture related applications.

Applicants seeking funding of over $500,000 are required to submit a project management plan or business plan (depending on the nature of the proposal) with their application.

Applicants applying for funding under this ABA Open Grants opportunity must:

§  Have an Australian Business Number (ABN) (exemptions may apply in special cases but not for individuals/sole traders).

§  Where relevant, be registered for the purposes of GST.

§  If an individual, be a permanent resident of Australia.

§  Have an account with an Australian financial institution.

AND be one of the following entity types:

§  An Aboriginal individual or Aboriginal sole trader.

§  An Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act).

§  A company incorporated in Australia under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

§  An Incorporated association (incorporated under state/territory legislation, commonly with 'Association' or 'Incorporated' or 'Inc' in their legal name).

§  An Incorporated cooperative (also incorporated under state/territory legislation, commonly with ’Cooperative' in their legal name).

§  An organisation established through a specific piece of Commonwealth or state/territory legislation including public benevolent institutions.

§  An Australian state or territory government body.

§  An Australian local government body.

§  An incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust.

§  A partnership.

§  A joint, partnership or auspice (consortium) application under a lead organisation that is an eligible entity.

In addition you must:

§  Have rectified, or are in the process of rectifying, any issues of previous non-compliance with existing Commonwealth funding agreements to the satisfaction of the Commonwealth. AND

§  Be financially viable. The application form has questions about your financial viability. NIAA may undertake its own enquiries in relation to applicants’ financial viability. 

The ABAAC will meet two to three times each year to consider applications and provide advice to the Minister for Indigenous Australians. Applications received in approximately the first 6 to 8 weeks of this grant opportunity will be considered by the ABAAC in late 2021 and outcomes should be known in early 2022. The ABAAC will again meet in around March 2022. Early submission of applications will help ensure they are considered at the next ABAAC meeting.

Applications for funding must be submitted using the online application form. The online application form can be found through this link:

https://forms.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=PRD00-NIAAv1&FRID=4-H7QL8U4&RegID=4-H80ALAL

The Aboriginals Benefit Account (ABA) Open Grants Supplementary Information provides key information to assist applicants to complete the online application form. All material should be read in conjunction with the Aboriginals Benefit Account (ABA) Grant Opportunity Guidelines (2021-2023).