Minor Facilities Upgrade Program 2026: Up to $60,000 for Tasmanian Sports Clubs

The Minor Facilities Upgrade Program 2026 offers Tasmanian community sport and recreation clubs between $10,000 and $60,000 to upgrade existing facilities. With $650,000 in total funding available, applications are open now until 31 March 2026. This guide tells you exactly whether you will win or lose before you spend a minute on the portal.

Unsure of your eligibility? Check Your Eligibility Probability Here.

At a Glance

This program is funded through the Community Support Fund (CSF), meaning it is legally required to benefit community sport and recreation clubs. That is not marketing language – it is legislative intent, and assessors will hold every application to that standard.

The “Hard” Eligibility Filter: Will You Win or Fail Before You Start?

Before you invest hours building your SmartyGrants application, run your organisation through these filters right now. This is the most important section of this guide.

Must-Haves: Tick Every Box or Do Not Apply

✅ Your organisation’s primary focus is the delivery of sport and/or active recreation activities to the Tasmanian community.

✅ You are either an incorporated, not-for-profit organisation registered under the Associations Incorporation Act 1964(TAS), a local government authority providing facilities to eligible sport and recreation clubs, or a not-for-profit sport or active recreation organisation registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cwlth).

✅ You comply with the Tasmanian Child and Youth Safe Organisations Framework. Non-compliance is an automatic disqualifier.

✅ Your project improves an existing facility – not a brand-new build.

✅ You have (or can secure) a minimum 20% co-contribution of the total project cost, of which at least 10% must be cash (not in-kind).

✅ If your project takes place on school land, you have (or will obtain) a memorandum of understanding or hire agreement with the school, and you must submit the “Confirmation of School Support” form with your application.

✅ You have landowner support for the project in writing.

✅ You have no overdue acquittal obligations from any previous Active Tasmania or Communities, Sport and Recreation funding agreement.

✅ You are submitting only one application per eligible organisation in this round.

✅ Your project can realistically be completed by 31 December 2027.

Dealbreakers: Any One of These Will Kill Your Application

❌ Your organisation is a state or Australian Government entity, a political organisation, an individual or sole trader, or a for-profit or commercial enterprise.

❌ You are an educational institution (including parents and friends associations). Schools cannot apply on their own behalf – only an eligible sport club with school support can access facilities on school grounds.

❌ Your organisation receives revenue from electronic gaming machines. Full stop. There is no partial disqualification here.

❌ Your organisation’s primary purpose is arts, hobbies, craft, music, historical re-enactments, events, pets or livestock activities, or any purpose that does not primarily involve human physical activity.

❌ Your project is new construction – installing new playing surfaces, new floodlights, new change rooms or new toilets. These are defined as major works under the program and are explicitly excluded.

❌ You are seeking to reimburse items already purchased before submitting your application. The invoice date matters enormously (see the Application Killer section below).

❌ You have outstanding reporting obligations or an overdue acquittal from any previous Active Tasmania grant. Assessors check this.

Unsure of your eligibility? Check Your Eligibility Probability Here.

What Your Grant Can (and Cannot) Pay For

Understanding eligible and ineligible expenditure is where most unsuccessful applications unravel. Assessors are not looking for technicalities to reject you – the program guidelines are simply very precise about scope.

Eligible Projects and Examples

Minor Fixed Infrastructure covers a wide range of practical upgrades. Think sporting equipment storage sheds, goalposts, basketball hoops and backboards, scoreboards, shade structures, cricket nets, and upgrading existing lighting to LED. For projects not on school premises, solar panels and battery storage are specifically listed as eligible. A suburban bowls club that needs to replace a deteriorating scoreboard and install LED lighting over an existing green would fit comfortably within this category.

Minor Playing Surface Upgrades include resurfacing to fix cracks or uneven areas, line marking and repainting, sanding back and sealing indoor surfaces, and installing or upgrading an irrigation system. Where an oval or field is currently unable to be used for competition, works to bring it up to competition standard are eligible – but only when supported by written confirmation that competition will take place there following completion. This means returfing, replacing worn or damaged turf, dethatching, top dressing, and aeration are all on the table.

Minor Safety and Accessibility Improvements cover installing gates, locks, fob entry systems, monitoring equipment, security sensor lighting, accessible pathways, upgraded toilet facilities to make them accessible, and security system upgrades that enable broader community use. A football club that wants to install a keypad entry and improve accessible pathways to an existing clubroom would score well here.

Ineligible Expenditure: The Categories That Will Sink You

Assessors are experienced enough to spot borderline eligible items dressed up as something else. The following are firm exclusions.

Equipment purchases are not funded. This means bats, balls, racquets, nets, cones, mats, training vests, transportable goals, wickets, first aid kits, tablets, and maintenance equipment are all off the table regardless of how they are framed in your budget.

Routine or cyclical maintenance is not eligible. If the work is something your club should be budgeting for regularly, the program will not fund it. This trips up many community clubs who describe essential works as “upgrades” when assessors read them as maintenance.

Works in areas not directly associated with the conduct of sport are excluded. Kitchens, kiosks, car parks, spectator grandstands, office spaces, and social rooms do not qualify. Similarly, perimeter fencing external to the playing area is not eligible, nor are works to facilities used for commercial operations, licensed bars, or gaming.

Feasibility studies are not funded. If you do not yet know what you are building, you are not ready to apply.

Wages and salaries for people employed by your organisation are ineligible. In-kind labour is only accepted where it comes from a qualified professional and is evidenced by written confirmation of the specific work and its value. Club members painting the grandstand or removing old infrastructure does not count as an in-kind contribution.

The Application Killer Section: 3 Specific Reasons Applications Fail That Nobody Talks About

Most grant guides tell you what to include. This section tells you the non-obvious traps that lead to otherwise strong applications being either disqualified or scored so low they fall outside the funding pool.

1. The Invoice Date Trap

This is the single most common reason for disqualification, and it catches well-organised clubs who simply move too fast. The program guidelines are unambiguous: reimbursement of any items purchased prior to submission of the application form is not eligible.

This means if you ordered materials, paid a deposit to a contractor, purchased hardware, or engaged a surveyor before your SmartyGrants submission is timestamped, those costs are gone from your eligible budget. It does not matter whether the work has started. It does not matter whether the invoice is unpaid. The date of purchase or commitment is what counts.

The practical lesson: do not sign contracts, pay deposits, or purchase materials until you have received written confirmation that your application has been received. Some clubs have had to rewrite entire budgets mid-assessment because a keen committee member ordered materials the week before they lodged.

2. The Co-Contribution Evidence Failure

The requirement is clear: you must have a minimum 20% co-contribution of total project cost, with at least 10% being a cash contribution. What most clubs get wrong is not the amount – it is the evidence.

Active Tasmania requires specific documentation: a bank statement from within the last six months clearly showing the organisation’s name (not a treasurer’s spreadsheet), written confirmation of cash or material donations, written confirmation of professional in-kind labour with the specific value stated, or written confirmation of sponsorship or funds from a partner organisation.

Here is the trap most clubs fall into: they confidently declare that funds are “held in reserve” or “in the process of being secured” without providing the required documentation. If you cannot evidence the co-contribution at time of submission, assessors have no choice but to score your application lower on the value-for-money criterion, which is weighted equally alongside demonstrated need and capacity. In a competitive pool, that scoring reduction can push you below the funding line.

Critically, additional contributions from other Tasmanian Government programs do not count toward your co-contribution. If your club has received or is applying for another Active Tasmania grant, that money cannot be used to hit the 20% threshold.

3. The “Three Working Days” Information Trap

Section 7 of the program guidelines contains a clause that catches applicants completely off guard. After you submit through SmartyGrants, Active Tasmania may request additional information or documentation. You must provide this within three working days, unless otherwise advised. Failure to provide the information within that timeframe may result in the application being unsuccessful.

This is not theoretical. With a 31 March 2026 deadline and assessments beginning shortly after, information requests can arrive at any time. Clubs that are not monitoring their email closely – or whose primary contact person is on leave during the Easter period – risk missing a three-day window that kills an otherwise qualifying application.

The solution is straightforward: nominate a primary contact who will be reachable every working day from 1 April through to at least mid-May 2026. Brief your committee that an email from Active Tasmania in that period requires a same-day response.

Unsure of your eligibility? Check Your Eligibility Probability Here.

Step-by-Step Submission Guide

Follow these steps precisely. Cutting corners at any stage reduces your score or risks disqualification.

Step 1: Read the Guidelines in Full

Download the official program guidelines PDF from the Active Tasmania website before you do anything else. Do not rely on summaries. The document contains detailed examples of eligible and ineligible expenditure that can inform your project scope.

Step 2: Contact Active Tasmania Before You Apply

The guidelines explicitly recommend contacting Active Tasmania to discuss your project and ensure you are aware of all required documentation. This is not optional advice. A pre-application conversation allows you to confirm your organisation’s eligibility, get clarity on whether your project scope is eligible, and understand what supporting documents will be required. Contact the team at grants@active.tas.gov.au or 1800 252 476.

Step 3: Gather Your Supporting Documents

Pull together all of the following before opening SmartyGrants. You will not be able to upload additional documents after submission.

For your co-contribution evidence, you need a bank statement dated within the last six months showing your organisation’s name and available cash balance, plus written confirmation of any donations, sponsorship, or in-kind contributions from professionals.

For landowner support, obtain written confirmation from the facility owner or manager. If the facility is on school grounds, you must complete and attach the Confirmation of School Support form.

For your project scope, obtain at least one written quote from a licensed contractor. The assessment panel will evaluate whether costs are reasonable and well-justified.

If relevant, confirm whether any development or building approvals or permits are required for your works, and note their current status in your application.

For school-based projects with multi-sport benefit, gather evidence demonstrating that more than one sport will benefit. This evidence triggers the co-contribution exemption.

Step 4: Complete Your SmartyGrants Application

Log into the SmartyGrants portal and work through the application form systematically. The form covers your organisation’s details and eligibility declarations, project description and demonstrated need, total project cost and budget breakdown, co-contribution evidence, landowner and any state sporting organisation support, project risk assessment and timeline, and confirmation of development or building approval requirements.

Be specific about demonstrated need. The assessment panel asks two questions under this criterion: what issue or gap does the project address, and how will the project improve accessibility of the facility or activity? Vague answers score poorly. A response that documents the specific deficiency (for example, deteriorating wicket matting making the facility unsafe for competition) and quantifies the access improvement (reinstating weekend competition for three junior cricket teams totalling 48 players) will score significantly higher.

Step 5: Submit Before 2:00 pm on 31 March 2026

SmartyGrants will not accept applications after the portal closes. Do not wait until the final day. Allow yourself at least 48 hours before the deadline to resolve any technical issues with the portal.

Step 6: Monitor Your Email and Respond Promptly

After submission, monitor the email address you provided in the application. Remember the three working day rule for any information requests.

How Your Application Will Be Scored

Understanding the assessment criteria gives you a decisive advantage in how you frame your application narrative.

The assessment panel applies three equally weighted criteria.

Demonstrated Need asks what issue or gap the project addresses and how the project will improve accessibility of the facility or activity. This is where you document the current problem clearly, with specifics. How many participants are currently affected? What is the safety risk, if any? How many sessions or competition rounds are lost each season because of the facility issue?

Value for Money considers the number of participants or participant groups who will benefit, the extent of the applicant’s co-contribution (with higher co-contributions receiving higher priority), and whether costs are reasonable and well-justified. A club contributing 40% of project costs in cash will score materially higher under this criterion than one meeting only the minimum 20% threshold.

Capacity examines evidence of landowner approval, whether the project can be completed within program timeframes, whether project risks have been identified with mitigation strategies, and the status of any required development or building approvals.

Beyond these three criteria, the assessment panel may also consider equitable distribution of funding across regions of Tasmania, existing access to sport facilities in each area, the range of sports and activities supported, and applicant funding history. This means a club in a regional or rural area of Tasmania that has not received recent Active Tasmania funding may hold an advantage over a well-resourced metropolitan applicant with a comparable application.

For community organisations wanting to strengthen their grant writing fundamentals, the guidance available on community grants for Australian organisations provides useful background on structuring compelling applications. Similarly, understanding how government business loans and grant co-contributions interact can be valuable when documenting your secured funding position. Clubs exploring funding for social enterprises and community organisations may also find parallel strategies applicable to their grant narrative.

FAQ and Glossary

Is the Minor Facilities Upgrade Program grant taxable?

Grants distributed under this program may be treated as assessable income by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Active Tasmania’s guidelines strongly recommend seeking independent advice from a tax advisor or the ATO before applying. The tax treatment depends on your organisation’s specific circumstances and registration status. Do not assume the grant is tax-free.

Can we apply if we have received a previous Active Tasmania grant?

Yes, provided you have no overdue acquittal obligations from that previous grant at the time of application. If your acquittal is outstanding and you submit an application, it will be deemed ineligible. Complete your acquittal obligations before the program closes on 31 March 2026.

Our club is based in a regional area of Tasmania. Does that help our chances?

It can. The guidelines note that the assessment panel may consider equitable distribution of funding based on project location and existing access to sport facilities. Regional and rural clubs in areas with limited existing infrastructure may receive additional weight in the panel’s final deliberations.

Can a third party submit the application on our club’s behalf?

Only with written evidence of permission included in the application. Applications submitted by a third party without that documentation will not be accepted.

What happens if our project is going to cost more than expected after we start?

Variations to approved scope are only considered in writing and only for reasons beyond the applicant’s control. Increases in contractor quotes due to market pricing are unlikely to be accepted as grounds for a variation. Build contingency into your project budget from the start.

Can we include volunteer labour as part of our co-contribution?

No. Unskilled labour provided by club members – including painting, removing old infrastructure, waste disposal, and delivery of goods – is not considered an eligible in-kind contribution. Only professional in-kind labour, evidenced in writing with the specific work and dollar value documented, is eligible.

What is an acquittal?

An acquittal is a statement provided at the conclusion of your grant that confirms the funding was spent as agreed in your funding agreement. It must include a report on completed activities and outcomes, a report on income and expenditure, and supporting evidence such as invoices, receipts, and images. Active Tasmania will send you the acquittal form through SmartyGrants. Failure to acquit by the due date can result in repayment of funds and ineligibility for future Active Tasmania grants.

What is the Community Support Fund?

The Community Support Fund (CSF) is the Tasmanian Government funding source from which this program draws its budget. CSF legislation specifically requires that funding benefits community sport and recreation clubs. This is why commercial entities, gaming machine operators, and non-sport focused organisations are ineligible regardless of their physical activity components.

Can we apply for more than one project?

Only one application can be submitted per eligible organisation per funding round. Choose your highest-priority project and focus your application there.

What is SmartyGrants?

SmartyGrants is the online grant management platform used by Active Tasmania to receive, track, and assess applications. You will need to create an account and complete the application form through this portal. The portal also handles acquittal forms at the end of the grant period.

Unsure of your eligibility? Check Your Eligibility Probability Here.