Local Community Fund - Central-West Orana REZ

Eligible Applicants include:

• Incorporated not-for-profit community organisations;
• Local Aboriginal Land Councils;
• Incorporated Aboriginal community organisations (i.e. initiated by, controlled and operated by Aboriginal people and/or governed by a board or committee of Aboriginal people); and
• Local councils (only if they are in partnership with or in support of a community project); and
• Committees under section 355 of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW) must apply via the relevant council.

Applicants must provide evidence that they are an incorporated entity by providing either an Australian Business Number (ABN) or an Australian Company Number (ACN). Eligible organisations that are unincorporated must provide evidence that they are registered with NSW Fair Trading under the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 (NSW) or another Act.

Eligible Applicants must have or be able and willing to purchase at least $20 million public liability insurance.

In accordance with the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act (EII Act), eligible projects must deliver community benefits to the local community in the geographic area that forms the REZ to which the access scheme applies. A map of the geographic is available here.

Eligible projects must be aligned with the LCF Objectives, which have been designed to deliver the community purposes as defined by the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Regulation (EII Regulation).

Projects that are outside of the LCF eligibility criteria but still align with the with community and employment purposes (as defined by the EII Regulation) may be considered through the Legacy Infrastructure Fund.

Community Organisations are encouraged to speak to their Local Council about opportunities to partner on large scale infrastructure projects. Refer to the Grant Guidelines for examples of eligible projects.

From 6 December 2024.

Eligible project costs may include those associated with:

• Constructing new or upgrading existing local community amenity or community services infrastructure; and/or
• Delivery of community programs or services.

Applicants may include up to 25 per cent of the total project cost for contingency and up to 10 per cent of the total project cost for project management and administration. Design, including regulatory applications and approvals costs, must be listed as administration costs.

Ineligible costs include:

• Costs related to buying or upgrading non–fixed equipment, supplies or vehicles such as cars, trucks and vans, unless considered essential to the overall project delivery and are incidental costs to the project budget;
• Financing, including debt financing or rental costs;
• Purchase of land or buildings, unless considered essential to the overall project delivery;
• Costs relating to depreciation of plant and equipment beyond the life of the project;
• Operational expenditure, including but not limited to regular repairs and maintenance;
• Non-project related staff training and development costs;
• Ongoing/recurrent funding that is required beyond the stated timeframe of the project;
• Ongoing staff or operational costs beyond 3 years from project announcement for program or services, or any ongoing staff or operational costs for infrastructure projects;
• Costs relating to subsidising memberships for existing services; and/or
• Project management or contingency costs that exceed the eligibility requirements.

Ineligible projects include those that:

• Are not submitted by an eligible entity;
• Are not being delivered within an eligible location;
• Are exclusively for planning activities (e.g. master planning or heritage studies);
• Are for the maintenance or construction of local roads or other ongoing core service infrastructure works that are the ordinary responsibility of council or other levels of government;
• Are seeking retrospective funding to cover any project component that is already complete before Applicants are informed of the funding decision outcome or funding is announced;
• Are for a general works package without specific scope, costs and location (e.g. ‘upgrading lighting at sports ovals’ without identifying the work required, number of sites or the locations);
• Are exclusively for marketing, branding, advertising or product promotion including tourism marketing;
• Are providing direct commercial and/or exclusive private benefit to an individual or business;
• Are not clearly providing benefits that will significantly contribute to the objectives of the LCF and/or the community purposes as set out in the EII Act or EII Regulation;
• Are the recipient of duplicate grant funding from another NSW or Australian Government grant program for the same project (excluding co-contribution arrangements); and/or
• Are solely for the maintenance of any infrastructure i.e. painting or beautification repairs without upgrading the functionality of the infrastructure.

Financial co-contributions are not mandatory for a project to be eligible for funding, but may help support a project’s financial viability. Financial co-contributions could include funds provided by Eligible Applicants, as well as funding from other sources including other NSW or Australian Government funding programs.

Financial co-contributions within an application will not be considered relevant if they have not yet been secured.