- Community Gardens Grants Program announces 13 successful applicants to share in $100,000 funding
- 2026 grants include funding for a food forest, reactivationof gardens, developing educational resources and facilitating workshops
- Part of Cook Labor Government promise to help people enjoy and appreciate nature
It will be an especially bountiful spring in the garden for the 13 organisations that were today announced as recipients of a total of $100,000 of Community Garden Grants.
Ranging from Katanning to Tom Price and Kalumburu, from the Gascoyne to the Mid West and the Great Southern, the geographical diversity of projects funded by this round of grants is particularly notable. Metropolitan organisations will also benefit, with gardens in Padbury, Morley, Bentley and Perth also set to reap the benefits.
Community garden projects continue to encourage people to come together to connect with the environment, establish connections with neighbours and develop new skills.
Local governments and not-for-profit organisations can apply for up to $10,000 in funding assistance through the program to establish and develop sustainable and edible community gardens in their local areas.
Successful projects include:
- Kalumburu Aboriginal Corporation – Seeds of Strength Community Garden;
- Community Food Forests Inc. – workshop titled “Healing with Herbs,” led by Perth City Farm;
- People Helping People International/Development WA – reactivating the former Bentley Community Garden as the Heartwood Collective to create an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming community hub;
- Healthy Self Wellness York Incorporated – establishing a four-acre next-generation food forest and community garden in the Wheatbelt to create a welcoming and inclusive space that increases access to fresh, locally grown produce; and
- Wattandee Littlewell Aboriginal Corporation – transformation of the former Mingenew Aboriginal Reserve into a native bush food and medicine garden, strengthening community, youth skills, and cultural healing through sustainable, edible plants.
As part of the grant process, applicants were required to demonstrate that their projects were inclusive and accessible, encouraging participation of the wider community, have support from the local government, and are feasible and sustainable projects with measurable community outcomes benefits.
Further information on the Community Gardens Grants Program is available on the Department of Communities website .
As stated by Community Services Minister Matthew Swinbourn:
“Community gardens sow the seeds of what gives us meaningful connection in our local area.
“I have been to several gardens that have been supported by funding from the Cook Labor Government and seen first-hand the positive impact these grants have on local communities.
“I am especially pleased by the accessibility and sustainability elements of this round of successful applicants, and I am very much looking forward to visiting to see the improvements once complete.”
