Surf Club Facility Program

The Surf Club Facility Program is part of the NSW Government’s four-year commitment to support the upgrade of local Surf Life Saving Clubs (Surf Clubs) facilities across NSW.

Fund Information

The NSW Government recognises the critical role Surf Life Saving Clubs have in local communities delivering on-beach safety, training and education and keeping people active and connected.

The Surf Club Facility Program is part of the NSW Government’s four-year commitment to support the upgrade of local Surf Life Saving Clubs (Surf Clubs) facilities across NSW.

The Program is in its fourth year, and since round one (2017/2018) the NSW Government has invested over $12 million in Surf Life Saving Clubs to create fit-for-purpose facilities in local communities to increase participation, access, and safety on our NSW beaches.

The 2020/2021 Program will continue to support the construction of new, upgraded and the expansion of safe and inclusive Surf Club facilities in NSW.

The Program aims to assist eligible Surf Life Saving Clubs throughout NSW to develop facilities that will enable increased facility usage, improve safety and increase participation in Surf Life Saving.

The focus is on universally designed and functional Surf Club facilities that increase the capacity and type of use for the general public and/or Surf Life Saving Club members.

The focus of the Program includes removing barriers to access, incorporating environmentally sustainable design and enhancing operational sustainability.

Funding is prioritised in line with:

the Premier’s Priorities
the Office of Sport Strategic Plan and priorities (PDF, 4.48 MB)
Surf Life Saving NSW Strategic Plan; and
projects that address a community need and demonstrate inclusive design principles.

The key objectives of the Program are:

Participation: Increase the usage and/or participant numbers in Surf Life Saving.
Access: Increase the use of Surf Life Saving facilities by community groups and/or the public; and
Safety: Improve safety at Surf Life Saving facilities.

Funding available for this Program is up to $4,000,000.

The Surf Club Facility Program provides grants between $30,000 and $350,000 per project.

Applicants must contribute 25% or more co-contribution to the total cost of the project. This can include voluntary labour which should be substantiated with written quotes, donated material and/or equipment or resources.

Local Government Authorities are encouraged to contribute and these contributions can be counted towards the applicants 25% essential project co-contribution.

Refer to the Program Guidelines (PDF, 6.4 MB) for further information on funding availability.

To be eligible for the Program, the project must be located in NSW and applicants must be a:

Surf Life Saving Club in NSW; or a
Surf Life Saving NSW Branch. Branches are able to apply for surf club related works e.g., storage sheds for emergency equipment. However, they will only be considered if all applications from Surf Life Saving Clubs in the round receive funding.
Surf Life Saving Clubs that have not reached the program funding cap of $500,000 (since 2017/18 to date). Applicants are encouraged to email grantsunit@sport.nsw.gov.au to confirm the funding awarded to the Surf Club since 2017/18.

Applications must have the landowner’s consent for the project.

Applicants not affiliated with Surf Life Saving NSW are not eligible. Individual applications are not eligible. Applications must be made by a person authorised to submit the application on behalf of the Surf Life Saving Club.

The Program will not fund the following projects or project components which:

have little or no public benefit; that are not used primarily for surf lifesaving activities;
have commenced or completed at the time of application;
involve the development of private or commercial ventures;
are not projected to be completed within 24 months of executing the funding agreement;
have already been funded by the NSW Government unless significant new and additional scope is identified;
seek to repair of facilities where the damage can be covered by insurance;
include purchase of land;
include general annual maintenance e.g. painting;
seek to purchase equipment including computers, printers, office machinery, surf boards, stop watches, sails on boats, flagpoles, etc;
request grants of more than $350,000 or less than $30,000;
request more than 75% of the total project cost;
have not verified that all other funds are available for the project;
preparation planning - feasibility studies, design or development stages for a project; and
are in the planning phase and do not have a current development consent from Council (i.e. if a Development Application (DA) is required, a copy of the approved council determination must be provided at the time the grant application is submitted).