Bridges Renewal Programme

The Australian Government has committed $300 million over five years from 2014-15 to the Bridges Renewal Programme (BRP). The objectives of the BRP are to contribute to the productivity of bridges serving local communities, and facilitate higher productivity vehicle access.

State, Territory and Local Governments are eligible to apply. The programme will contribute a maximum of 50 per cent of the total project cost.  Proponents are encouraged to consult with industry and community more broadly on potential projects to ensure community views and industry priorities are considered in the development of proposals.

Projects will be selected as part of a competitive, merit based process.

Payments to all successful projects (including Councils) will be made through National Partnership Agreements to state/territory governments.

http://investment.infrastructure.gov.au/funding/Bridgesrenewal/Index.aspx

Black Spot Programme

The Black Spot Programme is part of the commitment to reduce crashes on Australian roads.

Road crashes are a major cost to Australians every year. Black Spot projects target those road locations where crashes are occurring. By funding measures such as traffic signals and roundabouts at dangerous locations, the programme reduces the risk of crashes. Programmes of this sort are very effective, saving the community many times the cost of the relatively minor road improvements that are implemented.

The Black Spot Programme makes an important contribution in reducing the national road toll under the National Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan.

The Australian Government has committed $500 million to the Black Spot Programme from 2014-15 to 2018-19, which includes an additional $200 million over two years from 2015-16 under the Infrastructure Growth Package to improve road safety across the nation.

http://investment.infrastructure.gov.au/funding/blackspots/

Amended Eligibility Criteria

The Government has announced changes to the programme’s eligibility criteria for 2015-16 and 2016-17 aimed at assisting local communities to compete for this additional funding over the next two years.

Under the new criteria, the minimum Benefit Cost Ratio for proposals has been reduced from 2:1 to 1:1. In addition, the minimum crash history of sites has been reduced from 3 to 2 casualty crashes over five years or 0.13 casualty crashes per kilometre per year over 5 years.

The criteria has also been amended to allow more funding for the proactive treatment of unsafe roads. Consultative Panels will able to allocate up to 40% of funding to sites on the basis of a road safety audit.

The Government has also guaranteed that at least 50 per cent of funding provided over the next two years will be dedicated to fixing roads in regional Australia.

National Infrastructure Grants

The National Infrastructure Grant scheme aims to provide core funding for national research activities that provide expertise and/or capabilities that facilitate breast cancer research. This funding mechanism is directed at building new activities and maintaining existing activities for which there is a clearly demonstrated national need and benefit.
A total of $250,000 per annum for up to five years is available for each Infrastructure Grant.

Breast Cancer Research

Organics market development grants

The Waste Less Recycle More Organics Market Development Grant Program provides grant funding of $2.55 million over two years to support the long-term expansion of the market in NSW for recycled organics that have been diverted from landfill.
Program snapshot

Category: Organics Infrastructure Fund

Amounts: Total of $2.25 million
Stream One: Product Quality – $10,000 to $50,000 open for continuous application
Stream Two: Market Development – $50,000 to $500,000 competitive grant process

Eligible bodies: Local councils, business, government institutions, not-for-profit organisations, and industry associations. Businesses that process recycled organics are not individually eligible.

Contact: 1300 361 967 or organics.recycling@epa.nsw.gov.au

Stream One: Product Quality – Open for applications at any time up to November 2016
Stream Two: Market Development – Open for applications until 11 August 2015

Managed by: NSW Environment Protection Authority

Aims of the fund
The development of new markets and expansion of existing markets will support the increase in supply of recycled food and garden organics generated through other grants programs under Waste Less Recycle More.

The objectives of the Organics Market Development Grants Program are to:
facilitate the expansion of the NSW markets for recycled organic materials by an additional 70,000 tonnes by June 2017
reduce contamination from source-separated organics collection systems to improve end market confidence in recycled organic products
change awareness, knowledge, behaviours and practices around the use of recycled organic products.

Program streams
Stream One: Product Quality – Grants of between $10,000 and $50,000 are available for projects that can best deliver outcomes to improve the quality of recycled organics products. Applications for Stream One are open up to 15 November 2016.
Stream Two: Market Development – Contestable grants open for between $50,000 and $500,000 to contribute to projects that develop new markets or expand existing markets for recycled organics. A second round of funding will be released if sufficient funds are available.

Organics Markets Development Grants

The Minister for Regional Development, Territories and Local Government, the Hon Dr John McVeigh, announced that 136 projects will receive grant funding of $208.2m to support community projects in regional Australia under the Infrastructure Projects Stream of the Building Better Regions Fund (BBRF).

Information on the grants awarded is available from business.gov.au .

More information on the BBRF program is available from https://www.business.gov.au/Assistance/Building-Better-Regions-Fund/Building-Better-Regions-Fund-Infrastructure-Projects/IP-funding-offers-round-2 .

The Regional Airports Program will improve the safety and accessibility of airports or aerodromes in regional areas of Australia by supporting critical air infrastructure that will:

• improve the safety of aircraft, operators and passengers using regional airports or aerodromes
• facilitate improved delivery of essential goods and services such as food supplies, health care and passenger air services
• improve the connectivity of Australia’s regions to domestic and global market opportunities
• meet the operational requirements of aeromedical and other emergency services in the region.

There is a total of $45 million available for this grant round. There will be other grant rounds and we will publish the opening and closing dates and any other relevant information on business.gov.au and GrantConnect.

The minimum grant amount is $20,000.

The maximum grant amount is $5 million.

The grant amount will be up to 50 per cent of eligible project costs, unless you and a third party are both contributing to eligible project costs. In this case, the grant amount will be up to 33.3 per cent of eligible project costs.

Click here for more information