Get your project ready

Section51 welcomes 2023 as a new and exciting year for grants.  We have already seen announcements from the Australian Government that grants will open on Infrastructure, Climate Change, Environment and Arts for local government and communities across Australia.  This is just the start as more announcements are expected in the May budget. 

Infrastructure
The Growing Regions Program was announced in the October Budget. This is the replacement of BBRF and will ‘provide access to funding for capital works for community and economic infrastructure across our rural and regional areas’. 

Section51 has been in contact with the Department of Infrastructure who are managing this grant program.  The advice we received is that brand new guidelines are being written which are to be released for your comment in February.  When the guidelines are completed the grant program is anticipated to open in May.
Now is the time to start preparing your projects to be grant ready.

Our 2023 Workshop Webinar on how to prepare a successful project is booking out fast. Click here to sign up.

Climate change
Climate change is at the forefront of the Australian Government.   As Minister Bowen announced on 10 January 2023:

'The Albanese Government has released proposed reforms to the Safeguard Mechanism, as well as proposed details of the $1.9 billion Powering the Regions Fund, for further consultation. To support businesses and regional communities with this transformation, the Government is announcing an initial $600 million in funding from the Powering the Regions Fund for trade-exposed Safeguard facilities. The Fund will ensure the regions seize the benefits of Australia’s net zero transformation by supporting decarbonisation, new clean energy industries, workforce development and credit purchase by the Commonwealth.'

We will keep you informed as grant opportunities from this fund become available.
 
Environment
Environment words we have not heard for 10 years from the Minister and Department of the Environment: 

'The Department is actively pursuing ways to better connect with our stakeholders, partners, portfolio agencies and communities. We aim to bring together the unique strengths and resources of diverse partners to have more impact and achieve more than each partner could achieve acting alone. The Department is on a journey to improve how we partner with others to achieve shared outcomes. By partnering, we are aiming to co-create better and more integrated solutions with others, to complement our existing programs. We provide grants, invest in new initiatives and support you to: protect our environment and heritage promote climate action improve energy efficiency and productivity.'

Multiple environment grants for local government are anticipated in the May budget. 

Arts and cultural facilities
On the last day of 2022, the Arts Minister, Tony Burke spoke at the Woodford folk festival about the national cultural policy the government will release in January.  As the Minister said: ‘Labor will unveil Australia’s first national cultural policy in a decade in an early major announcement for 2023, with millions in additional funding for the arts likely to follow in the May budget.’ 

Grants decision making process
Critically for the grants process the Arts Minister Tony Burke reinforced the new approach to grants decision making.  Minister Burke ‘…also promised arms-length decision-making on arts funding, to be judged by artists’ peers, not by the minister’.

It is music to our ears that we will have a fair and equitable decision making process across not only arts but all grants with the new Australian Government. This makes having a grant ready project that meets the criteria critical.

Be ready
Section51 welcomes you to our 2023 Workshop Webinar which has a focus on how to create a compelling application of high merit, within the grant guidelines. With independent assessors and no ministers to judge applications, grant writing has never been more critical.

If your application puts the assessor to sleep or is missing required details, your project won’t be funded. Get it right the first time.

Click here to sign up.