Grants currently open to Queensland councils and their communities

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Published: 10th February 2021

By Zoe Dark, Principal Advisor and Manager, Grant Office

What’s happening in the council grant space

The grants space in 2021 continues an “Investment Ready” theme.

Many funders are looking for projects that are supported with robust business cases and viable project plans, in addition to demonstrating community consultation and support. Councils must have well-developed projects and a well-written application to be competitive.

Many of the councils we work closely with have reviewed their 2021 funding and projects strategies to mature projects to the application-ready stage. These councils will very likely be ahead of the game when it comes to maximising current and forecasted funding opportunities.

Central Highlands Regional Council kicking goals when it comes to grant funded projects

A key part of tapping into funding through grants programs is having projects that are well defined, shovel ready and successfully delivered – this all supports future grant applications. An example of this are some of the recently completed projects in the Central Highlands (listed below). Not only were these projects delivered using grant funds, a couple of them went on to win prestigious engineering project awards. The team at Peak are proud to have played a small part in these projects, helping council secure funding under BBR 2 and 3.

Nogoa River Recreational track – Building Better Regions Fund 3 Infrastructure stream $259,000. Highly commended Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia 2020 Excellence Awards Projects under $1million.
Emerald Saleyards expansion and upgrade – Building Better Regions Fund 3 Infrastructure stream $1,110,965 and Building Our Regions R04 $1,009,465.
Emerald Airport General Aviation Upgrade – Building Better Regions Fund 2 Infrastructure stream $1,416,217 and Building Our Regions R04 $1,519,831 (part of the award winning runway upgrade).
Emerald Airport Terminal Redevelopment – Building Our Regions R05 $2,140,000.
Emerald Airport Runway Upgrade – Building Our Regions R02 $2,242,489. IPWEA 2020 Excellence Award Innovation & Australian Asphalt Pavement Association AAPA 2020 QLD State Industry Awards.

Grant writing for councils and their communities

Grant w riting relies on your ability to demonstrate the benefits of your project, demonstrating that it provides good value for money and that it will achieve the intended outcomes of the funding program.

In the last couple of years, Peak’s team has assisted Queensland councils to prepare over 60 grant applications and have secured on behalf of Council in excess of more than $50 million in funding, including $10 million for Indigenous councils in less than 12 months.

Our expertise and experience in grant writing, coupled with our knowledge of infrastructure and communities, allow us to prepare your submission independently, with only minimal supervision and review from Council.

Major grant funding opportunities exist and will continue across infrastructure and community development targeted at local government. As this is a competitive space, positioning oneself early to take advantage of the opportunities is vital.

At a community level, the Gambling Community Benefits Fund closes this month, with round six of the Stronger Communities Program winding up next month. Businesses have an opportunity to apply for funds to attend trade business events. These grants and more are listed below:

Open grants relevant to Queensland councils and their communities

Funding Opportunities	Available Funds	Closing Date
Live Music Australia - Round 2	From $5,000 to $80,000	18 Feb 2021 12:00 pm (ACT Local Time)
Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support 2020/21 Grant Round	From $5,000 to $80,000	19 Feb 2021 5:00 pm (ACT Local Time)
Community Drought Support Program 2020-21	Between $12,000 and $200,000	15 Feb 2021 2:00 pm
Boosting Australia's Diesel Storage Program	Up to $200 million in matched funding for industry in competitive grants over three years.	22 Feb 2021 5:00 pm (ACT Local Time)
Community Child Care Fund Open Competitive Round 3 grant opportunity	$2,000 to $200,000, varying across 3 streams	22 Feb 2021 11:00 pm (ACT Local Time)
Driver Reviver Site Upgrade Program – Round 2	From $10,000 to $150,000	25 Feb 2021 11:30 pm (ACT Local Time)
Gambling Community Benefit Fund– Round 108	From $500 to $35,000 for not-for-profit community groups	28 Feb 2021 11:59 pm
Building Better Regions Fund – Infrastructure Projects Stream – Round 5	From $20,000 to $10,000,000	5 Mar 2021 5:00 pm (ACT Local Time)
Building Better Regions Fund – Community Investments Stream – Round 5	From $5,000 to $1,000,000	5 Mar 2021 5:00 pm (ACT Local Time)
Mobile Black Spot Program Round 5A	Up to $34.5 million (GST exclusive) is available for Round 5A.	5 Mar 2021 5:00 pm (ACT Local Time)
COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program	A one-off grant of $1,500 to $100,000 to eligible businesses	13 Mar 2021 12:00 am (ACT Local Time)
Celebrating Multicultural Queensland Program	Category 1 – Economic and Social Participation Projects: one-off funding of up to $40,000 available. Category 2 – Youth and Community Connection Projects: one-off funding of between $5,000 to $120,000 available.	15 March 2021 10.00 am
Business Events Grant Opportunity	From $10,000 to $250,000 for eligible business to support trade business event attendance	30 Mar 2021 5:00 pm (ACT Local Time)
Stronger Communities Programme – Round 6	The grant amount for small capital projects is up to 100% of eligible project costs except for local governing bodies where grant funding will be up to 50% of eligible projects costs. Your grant request must be between $2,500 and $20,000.	Expressions of Interest due 8 Mar 2021, Applications Close 22 Mar 2021
The Cycle Network Local Government Grants Program	Identified projects are jointly funded between the Department of Transport and Main Roads and council, with a maximum of 50% funding from the Department.	22 Mar 2021

Peak’s Grant Office Program – package options to suit your needs

Peak has provided grant writing services to local government for many years. In response to the clear and present need, Peak has established a Grant Project Management Office to offer much needed support to our local government clients. From one-off Grant Writing works, to a full Grant Program Management Service we can tailor our solutions to help you to achieve your goals.

As an example, our retainer-based service support options ensure that your council’s projects requiring funding are monitored in line with each new grant opening, including grant sourcing and priority access to Peak’s grant writing expertise.

The Full-Service Support option also offers milestone reporting and acquittal monitoring, final milestone reporting and acquittal requirements, capacity building and staff training, grant and funding support and promote funding opportunities to your community, apart from advocacy and project briefings.

The Medium Level Support option is an in-between option that covers your council’s grant monitoring, sourcing, reporting and acquittal, whilst having priority access to our grant writing experts.

If you want to start with Basic Level Support, this option will ensure your priorities for funding are being monitored, and upcoming grants are considered accordingly by our grant writing experts.

Full-Service Support	Medium Level Support	Basic Level Support
Develop and maintain Priority Project List Grant sourcing Milestone reporting and acquittal monitoring Complete milestone reporting and acquittal requirements Priority access to Peak’s on tap expertise for grant writing, at a discounted rate Capacity building and staff training Grant and funding support and promote funding opportunities to your community and not for profit organisations Advocacy and project briefings	Develop and maintain Priority Project List Grant sourcing Reporting and Acquittal Monitoring Priority access to Peak’s on tap expertise for grant writing	Develop and maintain Priority Project List Grant sourcing Priority access to Peak’s on tap expertise for grant writing.

To learn more about how we can help you secure more grant funding for your council, please contact Senior Advisor - Grant Office Program, Zoe Dark on zdark@wearepeak.com.au or 0427 139 988.