Funding for community infrastructure to improve regional areas
Growing Regions Program – Round 2
Closing date: Thursday 10 October 2024 5:00pm AEDT Thu 10 Oct 2024 5:00pm AEDT
What do you get?
Funding is between $500,000 and $15 million to cover 50% or more eligible expenditure.
Who is this for?
Incorporated not-for-profit organisations, First Nations Community Controlled Organisations and local government agencies or bodies in regional areas.
Overview
The Growing Regions Program – Program will run over 3 years from 2024-25 to 2026-27 and will provide investment in community-focused infrastructure which creates and enhances amenity, liveability and social cohesion throughout regional Australia
Eligible project locations are defined in the mapping tool.
The objectives of the program are:
- constructing or upgrading community infrastructure that fills an identified and immediate gap or unmet need for community infrastructure, particularly for communities that have experienced substantial growth
- contributing to achieving social outcomes and increased community cohesion, liveability and accessibility
- delivering increased amenity, liveability and community connectedness in line with the Investing in Places priority focus area of the Australian Government’s Regional Investment Framework to deliver targeted and place-based investment.
The intended outcomes of the program are:
- to enhance liveability and amenity in regional communities
- provision of multi-use infrastructure which benefits a broad cross-section of the community by improving access, equity and social inclusion
- contribute to the achievement of Government priorities supporting the resilience, adaptability, accessibility, sustainability and liveability of communities including in First Nations communities
- delivery of diverse project types and a balance of large and small projects
- supporting and encouraging projects from lesser-resourced project proponents and low rate-based councils (see Appendix E of the program guidelines).
Project proponents can submit no more than 2 applications per ABN. Only the first 2 applications per ABN submitted in order of time and date will be accepted.
You must not commence your project until you execute a funding agreement with the relevant jurisdiction in which your project is located.
Check if you can apply
You can apply if you meet the eligibility criteria. The eligibility criteria are a set of rules that describe who we can consider for this grant. You can apply if you:
- are an eligible entity
- have an eligible project
- have eligible expenditure.
The rules are in the grant opportunity guidelines.
You can apply if you:
- are an incorporated not-for-profit organisation. As a not-for-profit organisation you must demonstrate not-for-profit status through one of the following:
- current Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) registration; or
- state or territory incorporated association status; or Constitutional documents and/or Articles of Association that demonstrate the not-for-profit character of the organisation.
or
- be a local government agency or body
and
- have an Australian business number (ABN) or ORIC registration
- deliver the project in an eligible location
- declare the project will be shovel ready at the time of signing a funding agreement
- own the land/infrastructure being upgraded or built upon, or have the landowner’s permission to use the land/infrastructure.
You can’t apply if you are:
- an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the National Redress Scheme’s list of Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme
- an employer of 100 or more employees that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012)
- an individual
- a partnership
- a Regional Development Australia Committee
- an unincorporated association
- any organisation not included in section 4.1
- a trust (however, an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust)
- a Commonwealth, state or territory government body
- a non-corporate Commonwealth entity
- a non-corporate state or territory entity
- a non-corporate state or territory statutory authority
- an international entity
- sole trader
- a for-profit organisation
- university, technical college, school, hospital or aged care
- in an ineligible location
Partner with other organisations
You can partner with one or more other organisations that also meet the eligibility criteria. But you must decide who the lead organisation is.
The lead organisation must fill out the application form.
If we give your group the grant, the lead organisation:
- signs the grant agreement
- is responsible for making sure your group follows the rules in the grant agreement.
Your project must:
- construct new community infrastructure or expand or upgrade existing infrastructure for wider community benefit
- not be standard capital works of other Commonwealth, state, territory or local government bodies including, but not limited to, roads, housing and essential service provision
- not have commenced construction
- not have received Commonwealth funding to undertake the same funding activities
- have a minimum eligible expenditure of at least $555,556 (group 1), $714,286 (group 2) or $1,000,000 (group 3) depending on co-funding requirements as outlined in section 3 of the program guidelines.
You can apply for funding between $500,000 and $15 million.
Eligible activities must directly relate to the project and must include at least one of the following:
- constructing new community infrastructure.
- expanding or upgrading existing infrastructure for wider community benefit.
You can use this funding to cover costs incurred that are directly related to your agreed project including:
- materials for construction
- hired/leased plant
- contract expenditure
- external labour hire and consulting.
You must incur the project expenditure between the execution of your funding agreement and end date for it to be eligible unless stated otherwise.
How to apply
Check if you’re ready to apply for a grant
Finding a suitable grant opportunity is just the start of the process to get funding. The application process can take time and effort. Understanding the entire process will help you be grant ready and may improve your chances of getting funding.
Use our checklist to find out what it takes to apply for a grant.
When you're ready to apply
Apply using our online portal:
- Create or log into your portal account.
- Follow the instructions to complete your application.
- Submit your application before the close date.
Make sure you include enough detail and supporting evidence in your application to help us decide whether to award you the grant.
Don’t submit the application until it’s complete. You can’t correct a mistake.
We will assess your application against the eligibility criteria.
Eligible projects will be assessed against the assessment criteria by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA) and a multi-party Parliamentary panel (the panel).
The assessment criteria are a set of rules that describe how we must assess each application.
We give each criterion a certain number of points.
We’ll decide whether to award you the grant based on the total number of points we give your application.
- Assessment criterion 1: Contribution to social and community inclusion (40 points)
- Assessment criterion 2: Alignment with Government and regional strategic priorities (20 points)
- Assessment criterion 3: Capacity, capability and resources to deliver and sustain the project (40 points)
The amount of detail and supporting evidence you provide should be relative to the project size, complexity and grant amount requested.
The Minister makes the final decision.
Apply now
Apply for the Growing Regions Program – Round 2 now
Before you apply, make sure you:
- read and understand the grant opportunity guidelines
- have the necessary supporting documents to provide evidence of the eligibility criteria.
Sample applications
The best way to understand what information you need to provide is to start an application. We have also provided a version to download at the bottom of this page.
Technical help
See our customer portal's frequently asked questions to help with your queries. If you can't find your answer, contact us for assistance.
If you submit your application before the close date you can retrieve it any time to make changes. But you must submit it again before the close date.
We can’t consider the application you submit after the close date under any circumstances.
Past rounds
Contact
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Key documents
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