The Surf Club Facility Program is administered by the Office of Sport in two stages:
- Eligibility check
- Merit assessment.
Throughout the assessment process the Office of Sport may request additional information from the applicant.
An independent probity advisor will oversee the grant process and attend all Grant Assessment Panel meetings.
A Grant Assessment Panel will assess all applications and make recommendations to the Minister for Sport.
Merit assessment
The Office of Sport will support the Grant Assessment Panel by conducting a preliminary assessment of all eligible applications against the Fund criteria and provide administrative support.
A Grant Assessment Panel with representatives from the NSW Office of Sport, and an independent member will consider each application and supporting evidence submitted, to score each project against the assessment criteria and determine the final merit assessment score. A representative from Surf Life Saving NSW will be present at the Grant Assessment Panel meeting as a subject matter expert.
During the assessment process, the Grant Assessment Panel may apply a minimum scoring requirement to one or more of the criteria. Where an application does not meet a minimum scoring requirement, the Grant Assessment Panel reserves the right to remove the application from further consideration.
If ineligible project scope and components are included in the application, the Grant Assessment Panel may adjust the requested grant amount accordingly.
The panel may seek information from other State Government agencies and other organisations such as ROC’s, sporting bodies etc to avoid duplication of funding for the project.
The Panel will make recommendations to the NSW Minister for Sport. The Minister for Sport will have final approval over the distribution of funds.
Merit assessment criteria
| Criterion 1: Strategic Justification (30%) | - Describe how the project will deliver a functional, flexible, accessible and safe facility
- Explain how the project will lead to increased participation in sport and increased facility capacity and usage (attach a Facility Usage Schedule)
- Explain how the project will lead to increased participation in Surf Life Saving particularly for women and girls, people with disability, First Nations peoples and people from culturally and linguistically diverse
- communities
- Provide detail of community profile, demonstrated need, key user groups, project beneficiaries and project urgency
- Describe community and stakeholder consultation and provide evidence of community support for the project
- Describe how the project aligns to the Surf Life Saving NSW Strategic Plan, the Office of Sport Strategic Plan or local council plans where relevant
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| Criterion 2: Project Scope and inclusive design (20%) | - Provide a clear scope of works proposed for the project and components that are to be delivered
- Provide supporting documentation such as facility design brief, concept, schematic or detailed design plans
- Describe how the facility design/project will specifically cater to women and girls, people with disability, First Nations peoples and people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and other community users and how these changes were informed through consultation or evidence
- Identify Design Principles outlined in the program guidelines that have been incorporated into the project. Describe how each design principle will be delivered including choice of materials, technologies and practices that have been incorporated e.g., energy and water conservation, sustainable and climate resilient materials
- Outline any best practice approaches in the design, development and delivery of the project that address the Program’s objectives
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| Criterion 3: Value for money and project affordability (20%) | - Provide a detailed budget including project capital costs and funding sources. The budget should clearly identify the project components that will be funded by the grant and the components to be funded by the applicant
- Provide evidence to support budgeted costs and revenues, e.g., itemised cost estimates, assumptions for revenue projections
- Provide evidence of committed co-contribution(s) funding. All applications requesting $500,000 or more are required to provide a minimum 50% financial co-contribution of the grant amount requested. Evidence may include a letter from Council or the Club confirming the project has allocated funding within the project delivery period. The Club should also upload bank or financial records showing the cash is available
- Provide evidence of the applicant’s capacity to fund and manage ongoing operations including routine and lifecycle maintenance costs
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- Criterion 4: Project deliverability and applicant capability (30%)
| - Provide evidence of landowner(s) consent for the project
- Provide evidence of Development Application approval (if required) or demonstrate that a Development Application is not required. Projects with approved Development Applications will be prioritised
- If no Development Application exists, confirm there are no serious planning, construction, zoning, environmental and/or Native Title
- impediments to delivering the project (e.g. Review of Environmental Factors)
- Provide a detailed project plan that illustrates key project tasks and milestones and forecast delivery timeline
- Provide evidence of the ability to commence construction within 6 months of funding notification through the provision of documentation such as schematic plans and current cost plans. All projects are expected to have
- been fully completed 2 years from notification
- List any assumptions, constraints, and dependencies in delivering the project
- Demonstrate the capacity to deliver the project through robust strategies for procurement, project management and risk management
- Demonstrate any partnership model (including asset management) that would be administered to deliver the project
- Demonstrate proven experience in delivering similar size projects. This should consider the applicant’s proposed project management resources and any specialist external resources to be engaged to deliver the project
- Applicant meets key obligations for other Office of Sport funded projects where there is/has been a funding agreement with the applicant
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