The State Government of Victoria is inviting applications for the Living Local Regional Fund to support locals and visitors in regional Victoria to experience new and better infrastructure that helps them come together as a community.

The Our Regions: Living Local – Regional Fund provides funding for local community-building projects that promote social connections, enhance liveability, and revitalise regional shopping strips and activity centres. The fund also provides grants to community organisations to help them in the great work they do to support their local communities.

The $5 million Our Regions: Living Local – Regional Fund provides funding to support regional communities to recover and thrive. The fund has two streams to drive economic and social recovery in the regional areas hardest hit by the pandemic and provides funding for local community-building projects that promote social connections and cohesion, enhance liveability, and revitalise community spaces.

Purposes

Living Local – Regional Grants Program

• An increase in regional living, driven by more people working from home, and moving to the regions for work, has created additional challenges and opportunities for Victoria’s regional communities. Specifically, this shift has created a significant opportunity to support economic growth and enhanced community connections in their regions.
• The purpose of the Living Local – Regional Grants Program is to support co-funded projects that build social connections in local communities, create safer and more inviting public spaces, enhance social cohesion and wellbeing, enhance community services, and improve accessibility for people of all abilities.
• The Program will support a range of projects including upgrades to playgrounds, outdoor gyms, community gardens, community halls, amphitheatres, paths, lighting, public art projects, shopping strips, community events, and community capacity building activations (in conjunction with funded infrastructure improvements).

Living Local – Regional Community Grants Program

• community organisations to facilitate and support improved social connections
• community organisations to engage with and provide services to the community
• vulnerable community members and volunteers to re-engage and participate in community settings
• improved access to community venues for people of all abilities.

Objectives

The objectives of the Living Local – Regional Grants Program are to:

• support the development, improvement and promotion of regional communities, shopping strips and activity centres as places of local economic activity and community gathering that work towards environmental sustainability
• deliver permanent co-funded projects or sustainable community events and related activity that reflect the needs of local people and enhance living, working, socialising and recreation in local areas
• enhance community inclusiveness, belonging, and participation, particularly among new residents and new workers and to support young people and mental health
• focus on smaller scale approaches to revitalising regional communities that can be delivered in partnership with local government, businesses, and community sector organisations and groups
• enhance liveability, safety, accessibility and vibrancy of communities, shopping strips and activity centres
• enhance opportunities for small business in community shopping strips to thrive
• progress reconciliation with Traditional Owners through the encouragement of proposals to incorporate local and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories.

The objectives of the Living Local – Regional Community Grants Program are to:

• increase community connection, capacity, access and participation
• develop and enhance a stronger sense of community belonging and connection
• enhance community inclusiveness, belonging and participation, particularly amongst new residents
• enhance local social outcomes.

Funding Streams

The Our Regions: Living Local – Regional Fund comprises two streams:

• Living Local – Regional Grants Program ($4 million)
• Living Local – Regional Community Grants Program ($1 million).

Funding Information

• Living Local – Regional Grants Program: Applicants may seek a minimum of $20,000 and maximum of $200,000.
• Living Local – Regional Community Grants Program: Community organisations can seek from $2,000 up to $20,000

Outcomes

Living Local – Regional Grants Program

• improved community perceptions of the public amenity of local community parks, facilities, shopping strips and activity centres
• increase in services and activities available to community
• increase in the number or quality of community assets and small-scale infrastructure
• increase in community use of shopping strips and activity centres, public space and community assets
• increase in social cohesion within the community

Living Local – Regional Community Grants Program

• community organisations have increased capacity to build social connection in local communities
• to assist community organisation to support vulnerable communities and volunteers have increased confidence to participate in community settings
• to enable community venues to be more accessible to people of all abilities and backgrounds.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Living Local – Regional Grants Program is a competitive grants program open to eligible rural and regional local governments and incorporated (not-for-profit) organisations/associations.
• The Living Local – Regional Community Grants Program is open to applications from not-for-profit and charity organisations that are operating in rural and regional Victoria.
• The Our Regions: Living Local Fund also offers grants for projects in metropolitan Melbourne communities.
• The Living Local – Regional Grants Program is open to applications from:
• local governments in Regional Victoria
• incorporated (not-for-profit) organisations/associations that are operating in regional Victoria.
• If an applicant organisation operates as a not-for-profit and does not hold a current ABN and/or fall within the above description, it may apply through a legally constituted organisation with a current ABN to manage the funds as an auspice organisation, such as a Local Government body.
• Preference in assessment will be given to incorporated (not-for-profit) organisations/associations that do not have regular streams of funding or revenue raising capacity.
• Locations most impacted by COVID-19 will be given priority, including those with a demonstrated need and with the greatest opportunity for revitalisation.
• If the proposed project or any part of it is on land not owned or managed by the applicant, applicants will need to demonstrate they have the consent of the landowner and that the land, asset or spaces is/are readily accessible and available for works
• Applicants will need to demonstrate collaboration and/or partnerships with the public landowner if the proposed project is on public land
• Local government applicants will need to demonstrate collaboration and partnerships with local traders, community groups and organisations in the development and/or delivery of the project
• The Community Grants Program is open to applications from organisations that are operating in rural and regional Victoria that are:
• incorporated not-for-profit organisations; or
• charities registered with the Australian Charities and Not for Profit Commission (ACNC); or
• Australian public companies limited by guarantee whose governing rules demonstrate a not-for-profit purpose.
• If an applicant organisation operates as a not-for-profit organisation and does not hold a current ABN and/or fall within the above three descriptions, it may apply through a legally constituted organisation with a current ABN to manage the funds as an auspice organisation. The auspice agency must submit the application.
• All applicants must operate out of a public venue open to the community.

Source: https://www.rdv.vic.gov.au/grants-and-programs/living-local-regional-fund#:~:text=The%20Living%20Local%20%E2%80%93%20Regional%20Community%20Grants%20Program%20is%20open%20to,eligible%20equipment%20and%20minor%20refurbishments.