Community Energy Upgrades Fund moves ahead
One of our biggest advocacy wins this year was securing a new $100 million Community Energy Upgrades Fund (CEUF) that will support your councils to deliver energy upgrades and bill savings at our local pools, sporting clubs and community centres.
It’s fantastic to see the Federal Government releasing more information about this program ahead of the launch of the guidelines later this month.
The first CEUF grant round opens in January 2024, and will provide co-funding of up to 50 percent of project costs for existing facilities owned and/or operated by local governments. Grants between $25,000 and $2.5 million will be awarded on a merit basis.
Councils have been at the forefront of climate action for decades, and this new funding program will support us to build on this work and deliver even better results for our communities, as well as transition to net zero emissions.
Please start thinking about the opportunities in your area, and the projects you have ready to go that could be funded through this new program.
Funded projects for round one are expected to start rolling out in September 2024.
Other new details, including the closing date for round one applications, can be found on the CEUF website.
Deadline extended for State of the Assets survey
We have extended the deadline for councils to provide their local roads and community infrastructure data for our 2024 National State of the Assets report.
Thank you to those local governments who have already completed the survey and shared this vital information with us. This will provide us with a comprehensive evidence base for advocating for better road and infrastructure funding in the future.
For those yet to complete the survey, which takes less than an hour to complete, please hurry so you can meet the new deadline of 14 December 2023.
Ministerial Council Meetings
The end of year has also seen an uptick in the number of Ministerial Council meetings attended by ALGA.
Over the past fortnight, the ALGA Board Executive and I have represented local government views at the Local Government Minister’s Forum, Joint Council on Closing the Gap and the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council.
These are all valuable forums where we can discuss national issues and influence policy direction with state and federal Ministers.