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Pictured: Top left - ©️Camera Story 1 , top right - Cerebral Palsy Alliance, bottom left - Rainforest Rescue, bottom right - Hobart Rivulet Platypus)
Sydney, AUSTRALIA – 29 April 2026: Canon Oceania has opened applications for its 2026 Grants program, marking 20 years of the program’s investment in community organisations across Australia and New Zealand.
The program will award more than $50,000 in prizes to Grant recipients in the four categories of Education, Community, Environment, and First Nations/Cultural. Winners across the region will each receive $5,000 of cash and Canon products to help tell their stories, reach wider audiences, and deliver lasting results. To celebrate the program’s 20th anniversary, $12,000 worth of studio and content packages are also on offer as additional awards.
“Twenty years ago, we began providing small, targeted support to help community organisations make a bigger impact. Guided by our Kyosei philosophy of living and working together for the common good, we've now seen that support reach 130 organisations across Australia and New Zealand. To celebrate the twentieth year of the program, we’re searching for eight more organisations with bold ideas about how imaging technology can help them reach more people and create change that lasts.” said Kotaro Fukushima, Managing Director & CEO - Canon Oceania.
Across twenty years, the impact of Canon’s Grants program has supported winners to make lasting impact.
Rainforest Rescue first received a Canon Grant in 2018. What began as a single Grant has since deepened into one of Canon’s longest-running partnerships, with Canon now a Gold Partner supporting the organisation's rainforest regeneration work in the Daintree. Kristin Canning, Partnerships Director at Rainforest Rescue, said the relationship showed what was possible when early support was sustained over time.
“This partnership is built on and grown strongly from trust – trust that is seeing us create lasting, tangible and huge change for nature together.” said Ms Canning.
“Canon Oceania, as our strong Gold Partner, is helping Rainforest Rescue turn possibility into reality in the under-protected Daintree by rebuilding vital wildlife corridors to support countless precious flora and fauna. Canon's Grant support has also enabled our team to deliver and document this change, from identifying species in the field and tracking seedlings in our Native Nursery, to capturing the critical work of seed collection and the joy of community planting days. Together, we are reconnecting rainforest, river, and reef, and protecting a living system that has endured for millions of years.”
For other recipients, a Canon Grant helped a significant project launch for Hobart Rivulet Platypus. Pete Walsh, a 2023 grant recipient, said the funding and equipment gave his documentary Becoming Platypus the push it needed to move from field work into full production.
“We're so grateful for the Canon Grant. The funding and gear really gave us the support we needed to move our documentary following two mothers and their sons, Becoming Platypus, out of the field and into production. Together, we're helping to raise awareness of Hobart's vulnerable platypus population, and to conserve and protect them for future generations.” said Mr Walsh.
For many organisations, the program's impact compounds over time. Three years on from Cerebral Palsy Alliance's 2023 Grant, the equipment continues to support the organisation's advocacy work. Teigan Butchers, from Cerebral Palsy Alliance, said the camera had become a central tool for the storytelling at the heart of the organisation's mission.
“The camera has played an important role in helping us capture key advocacy moments over the past few years, allowing us to share meaningful stories, raise awareness, and celebrate important milestones. We've used it to create video content for campaigns, as well as to photograph our Champions and the experiences of people within our community. Storytelling is at the heart of our advocacy. It's essential that people hear and understand the lived experiences of individuals with cerebral palsy, and this camera has enabled us to capture and share those stories in a powerful and authentic way.” said Ms Butchers.
“Camera Story won the Canon Oceania Grant in the Community category in 2017, which enabled us to purchase DSLR cameras to run our photography workshops. We continue to use those cameras today to support storytelling and creative expression across regional and remote communities.”
The 2026 Grants categories
The 2026 Grants will be awarded under four categories. Four organisations in Australia and four in New Zealand will be awarded Grants each worth $5,000 in local currency ($2,500 cash and $2,500 in Canon product) in the following categories:
• Community Grant – Awarded to a project that encompasses cultural and societal causes and has a positive impact on communities.
• Education Grant – Awarded to a project run by an educational institution, whether primary, secondary or tertiary.
• Environment Grant – Awarded to a project that supports the awareness, protection and/or biodiversity of the environment or promotes sustainable practices.
• First Nations Grant (Australia) / Cultural Grant (New Zealand) – Awarded to a project that contributes to positive outcomes for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Australia), or supports the indigenous culture of Aotearoa (New Zealand).
Grant recipients will receive their choice of the latest Canon imaging and printing technology, including cameras, printers and lenses, alongside cash funding to support their project. Professional content creation packages to selected winners will also offer professional photography, videography or other studio capability. By helping these organisations reach and inspire wider audiences, the program helps boost their impact and rebuild community trust and unity, one powerful story at a time.
Submissions are open now via https://www.canon.com.au/about-canon/community/grants in Australia and https://www.canon.co.nz/about-canon/community/grants in New Zealand. Applications close 11:59pm AEST/NZT Sunday 14 June 2026. The wider community will vote on finalists in July, and winners will be announced in August
For more information about Canon Oceania’s Grants Program 2026, please visit: https://www.canon.com.au/about-canon/community/grants
1 Image credit: ©️Camera Story, Sheraya Walagie, Sherayna Bangmorra and Dana Carlton, Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre, at the annual Mowanjum Festival.
