Storm and Flood Recovery

Community Assets Program 2024

Flooded infrastructure in Central West region of NSW

$25 million for the repair, restoration or betterment of community infrastructure that was damaged by the August and September 2022 floods.

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Key information

  • Status: Closed
  • Grant amount: From $150,000 to $4,000,000
  • Application opened: 13 March 2024
  • Application closed: 8 May 2024, 12:00 pm

Program objective

The $25 million Community Assets Program 2024 is co-funded by the Australian and NSW Governments and is a firm commitment to ensuring disaster impacted communities in Central West NSW have what they need to thrive.

Under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), regional communities have existing support to repair essential public assets like roads. However, these measures do not necessarily extend to repairing damaged community infrastructure such as parks, playgrounds, walkways and places of cultural heritage, all of which contribute to a community’s sense of wellbeing. 

The program will support four, highly impacted Central West NSW local government areas (LGAs) to repair, restore and better community infrastructure directly damaged by storms and floods in August and September 2022 (Australian Government Reference Number 1030 and 1034). 

This program is part of the broader $100 million Central West Recovery and Resilience Package, co-funded by the Australian and NSW Governments under Category D of the DRFA.

For more information about this program, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.

This program is administered by Department of Regional NSW.

This program is funded by Australian Government and Department of Regional NSW.

Eligibility

Who can apply

Only the four eligible LGA’s can apply for the Community Assets Program 2024.

Eligible applicants are: 

  • Cabonne Shire Council
  • Forbes Shire Council
  • Lachlan Shire Council
  • Parkes Shire Council

Councils must be a legal entity and have or be willing to purchase at least $20 million in public liability insurance.

For further details about eligibility, refer to the program guidelines. 

Types of projects funded under this program

Examples of eligible projects include the repair, restoration, or betterment of directly damaged local community infrastructure that does not provide a function to an essential public asset including: 

  • recreational and services buildings including libraries, youth and senior citizen facilities, tourism and arts and culture facilities
  • sport and recreation facilities including showgrounds and racecourse precincts, playing fields and courts
  • parks and playgrounds including equipment, furniture, fencing, shades, facilities and amenities
  • holiday and caravan park facilities
  • cultural heritage and identity of place assets
  • wharves, jetties, boat ramps, boardwalks, footpaths, walking trails, community club structures
  • pedestrian bridges, car parks, electric vehicles charging stations, retaining walls, landscaping, river/creek banks and signage in public spaces.

Types of projects not funded under this program

Examples of projects not eligible include:

  • assets that meet the definition of an essential public asset under the DRFA 2018 including roads, tunnels and utility bridges
  • assets that are not owned or managed by the applicant
  • assets that are associated with the function of an essential public asset under the DRFA 2018 including road furniture and retaining walls
  • projects that have been funded through other government grant(s)
  • repair projects or elements of repair projects where the applicant has claimed and received insurance*
  • assets that were not directly damaged in the severe weather and flood events declared under ARGN 1030 and/or AGRN 1034
  • projects that do not relate to the repair, restoration or betterment of community infrastructure
  • projects for the primary purpose of waste clean-up and/or make-safe works
  • projects that would be more appropriate under other government funding
  • projects that would fund the day-to-day operations and/ or business as usual activities of the organisation
  • projects that require ongoing funding from the NSW Government
  • projects which have a sole focus on erosion and sedimentation management including riverbank areas**
  • projects that are not aligned to the objective of the Community Assets Program
  • projects whose activities are explicitly of a commercial nature.

* Applicants must seek to claim insurance on asset repairs where relevant prior to seeking Government funding. If an asset owner has not made an insurance claim, the applicant must justify why not. If an asset received a part insurance payout, the unclaimed/uncovered/uninsured component only will be considered under the Community Assets Program.

** except where the erosion and sediment management project relate directly to the repair, restoration and/or betterment of an eligible community asset.

Most recent recipients

What your application needs to include

For further details about the Community Assets Program 2024 including key dates, available funding, and application and assessment processes, refer to the program guidelines.

1

Prepare your application with this checklist

All applications need to include:

  • a clear project scope
  • evidence of direct damage
  • a project plan
  • a project budget based on quotes or detailed estimates, reasonable assumptions, or previous experience with similar projects
  • landowner consent
  • evidence of current $20 million public liability insurance in the name of the applicant
  • evidence of strong community support for the project.
2

Address the eligibility criteria

  • funding is available for eligible, directly damaged community infrastructure in the disaster declared LGAs of Cabonne, Forbes, Lachlan and Parkes NSW (Disaster declared under AGRN 1030 and/or AGRN 1034)
  • councils in an eligible LGA that own and/or manage community infrastructure are eligible to apply
  • project scope can include asset repair, restoration, or betterment activities
  • if the value of the notional allocation per funding band or LGA is exceeded, or not met, then the funding may be redistributed to other eligible disaster declared LGAs where there is demonstrated need. This will be determined by the assessment panel and as per assessment criteria.

For further details about eligibility, including eligible applicants, assets, projects and costs, refer to the program guidelines.

3

Address the assessment criteria

Applicants must be able to demonstrate:

  • Community Need:

    • the ability of the community asset(s) to contribute to community wellbeing and prosperity

    • support from other asset owner/managing organisations within the LGA

    • restoration of a community asset reflects community engagement outcomes and meets an identified community need or service obligation

    • the ability of the project to contribute to social recovery and current recovery activities whilst avoiding duplication with other recovery initiatives already funded or underway.

  • Resilience:

    • supporting measurable outcomes that show how the project supports the design, productivity, accessibility, sustainability, preparedness, and disaster resilience of the impacted community asset(s)

    • repairing or restoring the directly damaged asset in a manner that will provide asset betterment and resilience to future disasters

    • sustainable design, material and accessibility and inclusivity considerations are factored into project design and scope

  • Viability:

    • evidence of asset inclusion in an applicant organisation’s asset management plans, systems and processes

    • the ability of the project to be delivered within the project funding allocated and agreed timeline, including sufficient project management, contingency and cost escalation factored into budgets

    • the ability of the project to commence construction within 12 months of funding approval by an appropriate delivery organisation, including any subcontractors with relevant experience and demonstrated commercial management and deadline completion

    • the inclusion of local and social procurement approaches

    • The inclusion of local sourcing and appropriate standards are applied for project delivery, including work health and safety considerations.

4

Resources

Start the application

The Community Assets Program 2024 will be a single stage application process.

Once an application has been prepared, council will submit the application form via SmartyGrants portal.

Apply now

After the application is submitted

Successful applications will be decided by: The Minister for Regional NSW.

The Department of Regional NSW will assess all applications against the assessment criteria, before recommending eligible projects to an assessment panel.

The assessment panel will assess each application on its alignment with the assessment criteria and may seek further subject matter expert advice.

The Minister for Regional NSW will be the approver of both successful and unsuccessful applications recommended by the assessment panel.

Successful applicants will be notified in writing of the outcome of their application and will be required to enter into a funding deed with the NSW Government prior to receiving funds.

Unsuccessful applicants will be offered an opportunity to be provided with feedback on their application.

Please refer to the program guidelines for further details.

Support and contact

If you require assistance or advice with your application, please contact floods.recovery@regional.nsw.gov.au or 1300 679 673 for a referral to the appropriate team. 

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