Sustainability and Climate Action Grant

Applicants will be required to provide:

• evidence of their organisation’s not-for-profit status
• written Works Approval if not the property owner

Applicants may be required to provide (on request):

• the organisation's previous two years’ financial statements (as submitted to the Office of Fair Trading)
• the organisation’s latest treasurer's report covering the previous 24 months and evidence of the organisation’s current bank balance at the time of application.

Applicants must not be:

• an individual
• a school, university or TAFE college
• a political party or discriminatory group
• an organisation that own, lease, manage or operate premises with poker machines.

Applicants must not have:

• outstanding Council grants that have not been acquitted within required timeframes, or grants that have previously not been satisfactorily acquitted.
• overdue outstanding payments to Council (e.g., rents, rates, fees, Council guarantor loan repayments).

The project must:

• demonstrate a measurable improvement toward at least one of the stated Grant Objectives
• provide community education (relevant to the project) in relation to at least one of the stated Grant Objectives.

Applications will be ineligible if they:

• request additional assistance on top of that already received through another Council grant program for the project or event
• request funding retrospectively for an activity that has already occurred
• support an individual’s pursuit, private and/or commercial venture without community benefit
• request support for projects that do not benefit the community of the Cairns region
• request funding for routine maintenance or general operating costs
• are for projects, events or activities that are the subject of litigation
• are for the purchase of land, buildings or facilities.

• Emissions reduction: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Cairns region (e.g., through education, energy efficiency, renewable energy generation or sustainable transport.)
• Natural environment: Strengthening species and / or ecosystem resilience to human induced environmental pressures (e.g., through education, citizen science and / or on-ground action)
• Community resilience and capacity: Strengthening community resilience in relation to food, water, energy, waste, or disaster preparedness.

• Describe how the project will deliver on selected Grant Objective(s) and how these outcomes will be measured. (50% weighting)
• Detail the anticipated number of community members that will be reached by the project and how this will be measured. (30% weighting)
• Provide evidence of organisational capability to plan, manage and deliver the project and acquit grant funds, or ensure the organisation is a member of Go Clubs. (10% weighting)
• Describe how the project budget represents the best value for money. Include quotes (or estimates, if quotes are unavailable) for all items, minimum of two quotes for items over $1,000. (10% weighting)

1. (Optional) Contact Council’s Sustainability Team to discuss your proposed application prior to submission. 
   Phone: 07 4044 3384 | Email: sustainability@cairns.qld.gov.au
2. Complete the application form, available here 1 June – 31 July.
3. Submit the form and any required attachments by emailing them to: grants@cairns.qld.gov.au.
   Submissions close midnight 31 July
4. Following the closing date, applications will be reviewed for completeness and eligibility before being assessed by panel and submitted to the Chief Executive Officer for decision making. This process may take up to six weeks to complete, so please factor that into your project timeline.
5. The Grants Team will inform successful and unsuccessful grant applicants via email.
6. The Grants Team will communicate with successful grant applicants to finalise their funding agreement and distribution of funds – refer to Terms and Conditions.

If your application is successful, you will be required to:

• sign a Funding Agreement
• submit a copy of your Certificate of Public Liability Insurance (for $20M with Council noted as an interested party)
• complete the project within 12 months of the approval date
• notify Council in writing of any proposed changes to the grant funded activity
• submit the grant acquittal documents within two months of activity completion date
• reimburse Council with any unspent grant funds
• acknowledge the support of Cairns Regional Council in any public communications.

To complete the provided acquittal documentation, you will need to:

• provide evidence of expenditure (copy of receipts)
• provide evidence that the project took place (e.g., project photos, attendance sheets)
• provide evidence that Council funding was acknowledged
• demonstrate project outcomes in accordance with the measurements included in your application.