Building Distinctive Aboriginal Tourism Product Grant Program
The Northern Territory (NT) is uniquely positioned to capitalise on one of the fastest-growing segments of the global visitor economy. Aboriginal cultures are central to The Territory Spirit and form a defining competitive advantage. Demand is already strong and growing: four in five international visitors seek First Nations experiences, four in five Australians associate the NT with connecting to Aboriginal cultures, and the NT has the highest proportion of domestic overnight trips that include a First Nations experience.
The NT Aboriginal Tourism Strategy 2O2O - 2030's Update (Strategy) vision is that we inspire visitors to connect with one of the world’s oldest cultures through immersive tourism experiences, which will sustain the Aboriginal tourism sector for future generations. Its mission is in participating in the tourism sector, the Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory are respectfully supported to benefit economically, socially, and culturally.
The Building Distinctive Aboriginal Tourism Product Grant Program supports the development of new and distinctive visitor experiences across the NT by majority Aboriginal-owned businesses and organisations. Funding is available to create or activate bookable tourism products and experiences directly related to:
- Adventure tourism
- Business event delegate experiences
- Cruise tourism
- Cultural tourism
- Dark skies experiences
- Domestic education tourism
- Fishing
- Food and drink
- Major event attendee experiences
- Military tourism
- Night-time offerings
Tourism and Events NT is providing a non-competitive funding pool of $160,000 (excluding GST) to engage professional services to develop new tourism product that directly links to a tourism product including the preparation of applications to the relevant land council or other land management authority for the tourism product.
Applications can be submitted for –
- a minimum funding value of $10,000 (excluding GST)
- up to a maximum funding value of $30,000 (excluding GST)
Indicative dates
| Open for applications | 8.00am, Thursday 12 November 2026 |
| Closing date for applications | 4 pm, Friday 23 March 2027 or earlier if the program funding is fully subscribed. |
| Consideration of applications | as they are received until the closing date or when the budget allocation is exhausted, whichever comes first. This is a non-competitive program. |
| Notification of successful recipients | Notified within two weeks of receipt of the application via [email protected] |
| Notification of successful recipients | Within 4 weeks of receipt of a complete application |
| Final date for projects to be completed | Friday 14 May 2027 |
Dates are indicative and may be changed if necessary (for example, if a larger than anticipated volume of potential applications is received) or the program may close earlier if funding is fully subscribed.
For further information please contact Tourism and Events NT’s Aboriginal Tourism team at [email protected] or telephone 08 8999 7420.
Applications can be made at grantsnt.nt.gov.au
Grant guidelines can be viewed here (PDF, 1.8MB)