2016-17–Aboriginal Land Management and Capacity Building Grants Program

Guidelines for Applicants

Program Information
Funding available in 2016/17 / Total funding available is $147,000
  • $65,897 - Catchment Action NSW
  • $80,000 – National Landcare Program
  • $1,103 – Hunter Catchment Contributions
Individual grants are available to a maximum of $50,000
Applications open / 1 August 2016
Closing date for applications / 16 September 2016
Final date for completion of approved projects / 31 May 2017
Eligibility / Aboriginal organisations across the Hunter Local Land Services region.
Partnerships between Aboriginal organisations with other organisations (governmentor non-government).
Aboriginal organisations must be either incorporated or auspiced by an organisation that is incorporated or has an ABN.(Page 3-4)
Eligible activities / See Page 4
Minimum outputs to be delivered by the Program / 16 Aboriginal Land management Team members employed or trained
2 management plans developed or updated with Aboriginal Land Management Team members and/ or involvement
10 ha of Terrestrial Native Vegetation enhanced/rehabilitated
80ha vertebrate pest and 8ha weed control in priority in the Lower Hunter Estuary wetlands
Priority Areas / Aboriginalland across the Hunter Region identified by Aboriginal land managers.
Lower Hunter Estuary wetlands including inHunter Wetlands National Park and adjacent lands in Hexham Swampforvertebrate pest control and weed control (Juncus acutusand other saltmarsh weeds.
Lodging applications / Electronically:
or
Written:
Aboriginal Land Management and Capacity Building Grants Program
Hunter Local Land Services
Private Bag 2010
Paterson NSW 2421
Conditions of Funding / Standard LLS Grant funding terms and conditions apply (Page 8-9 of these guidelines)
LLS on-ground works minimum standards apply (Page 10-11)
Where to get assistance? / Website:
Grant program contact officers:
Lower Hunter - Toby Whaleboat (Grant Program Manager)
Phone: 0429 303 765
Email:
Upper Hunter – Sarah Giblin
Ph:02 6540 2414
Email:
Manning-Great Lakes – Geoff Foster
Ph: 02 65518994 Ext 243
Email:
Note: Requests for assistance (RFA) from Hunter LLS staff must be received by 2 September 2016, in order to guarantee assistance with your project application.

About Hunter LLS

The Hunter Local Land Services (LLS) region covers the following Local Government Areas: Upper Hunter, Muswellbrook, Singleton, Cessnock, Maitland, Lake Macquarie, Newcastle, Port Stephens, Dungog and MidCoast.

The Hunter LLS Local Strategic Plan 2016-2021 prioritises and directs Hunter LLS customer services, partnerships and investment across the region.

It sets the following goals:

  1. Communities – Resilient, self-reliant and prepared local communities
  2. Industries – Biosecure, profitable, productive and sustainable
  3. Natural Environments – Healthy, diverse, connected natural environments
  4. Our Organisation - Innovative, commercially focused and collaborative people delivering best practice business management and reducing red tape.

The plan identifies priorities and strategies for addressing these goals. Those relevant to this grants program are identified in the next section.

The Hunter LLS approach to delivering on this plan involves local people, delivering high quality, integrated services for healthy productive landscapes.

We will work with landholders and land managers to develop measures of productivity, profitability and sustainability, to help improve primary production within healthy landscapes and assist communities in the region to be profitable and sustainable into the future.

About the Program

The Aboriginal Land Management and Capacity Building Program is a component of the Hunter RegionalService Delivery Plan. The Regional Service Delivery Plan details the priorities, programs and projects to be delivered in the Lower Hunter, Upper Hunter and Manning Great Lakes Districts for the 2016/17 financial year.

Objectives

The objectives of Aboriginal Land Management and Capacity Building Grants Program are to:

  • Build Aboriginal community capacity to identify priority issues and participate in improved natural resource management and Indigenous fire management on their land.
  • Build Aboriginal community capacity to undertake on-ground works on Aboriginal and other land.
  • Provide targeted training in natural resource management and project management that builds business opportunities and leads to employment outcomes for Aboriginal Land Management Teams.
  • Build Aboriginal community capacity to exchange cultural knowledge and information across generations and communities.

This program also delivers on the following Hunter LLS Local Strategic Plan strategy and associated outcome:

Strategy 2: Deliver Integrated Services.

Outcome 2: By 2021, integrated services have helped primary producers and land managers in priority industries or landscapes implement practices for economic, social and environmental outcomes.

Strategy 7: Support and Partner Aboriginal Culture.

Outcome 7: By 2021, support for Aboriginal people to care for Country and practice traditional land management has increased.

Investors

The LLS is also delivering on the Hunter LLS National Landcare Programme (NLP) on behalf of the Australian Government. The NLP priorities that this program will deliver include:

  1. Maintain and improve ecosystem services through sustainable management of local and regional landscapes.
  2. Increase the numbers of farmers and fishers adopting practices that improve the quality of the natural resource base, and the area of land over which those practices are applied.
  3. Increase engagement and participation of the community, including landcare, farmers and indigenous people in sustainable natural resource management.
  4. Increase restoration and rehabilitation of the natural environment, including protecting and conserving nationally and internationally significant species, ecosystems, ecological communities, places and values.

Hunter LLS is delivering Catchment Action NSW funding on behalf of the NSW Government. The Catchment Action NSW priorities this program will deliver include:

  • Capacity building priorities delivered through fire management and pest animal control training workshops and activities relating to bush regeneration, revegetation, conservation and land management including weed control.
  • Natural resource planning and project management skills developed in Aboriginal land managers, including Local Aboriginal Land Councils and Aboriginal land management teams. Skills will include identification and recording of cultural landscapes and values.
  • Training workshops in fire, vegetation and pest animal management will inform the development of management plans for addressing these issues and protecting cultural and biodiversity values on Aboriginal land.
  • These skills will be applied directly through on-ground projects to improve management of Aboriginal land in conjunction with Aboriginal land managers, and to improve management of non-Aboriginal land through Aboriginal land management teams.

Hunter LLS is also delivering Hunter Catchment Contributions funding. The Hunter Catchment Contribution priorities this program will deliver include:

  • By 2020, land managers participate in catchment activities that increase ground cover on highly erodible soils and decrease the impacts of pest and weeds.
  • By 2020, land managers are implementing priority riverine stabilisation projects that restore healthy river and estuarine ecosystems.

Eligibility

General

Eligibility of applications is subject to:

  • The project being located in an identified priority area (page 4).
  • Applicants having completed works for any previous Hunter LLS funded projects.
  • Proposed works must be able to be completed by 31st May 2017.
  • LLS minimum standards for on-ground works being met (eligible activities listed below).
  • Proposed activities must abide by NSW State and Australian Commonwealth laws e.g. Native Vegetation Act 2003, Work Health and Safety Act 2011.
  • All current Hunter LLS financial obligations are paid.

Priority Areas

For the Aboriginal community to identify priority issues and participate in improved natural resource management (NRM) and invasive weeds and pest animal management on land in the Hunter Local Land Services region:

  • Lower Hunter district
  • Upper Hunter district
  • Manning/Great Lakes district
  • Lower Hunter Estuary wetlands including inHunter Wetlands National Park and adjacent lands in Hexham Swamp for vertebrate pest control and weed control activities (Juncus acutusand other saltmarsh weeds)

Types ofActivities

The types of activities that can be funded under this Program(but are not limited to)include:

  • Property management plans for aboriginal owned land (i.e. weed management plan, vegetation management plan, invasive pest management plan, indigenous (cultural) fire management plan etc).
  • Capacity building, training and/ or employment of Aboriginal Land Management Teams to deliver on-ground projects (listedbelow).
  • On-ground delivery of:
  • Conservation of native flora and fauna
  • Bush regeneration including:
  • revegetation, conservation and weed control
  • seed collection and propagation (including bush tucker)
  • Pest animal control
  • Indigenous fire management
  • Sea or waterway management and conservation.
  • On-ground delivery of vertebrate pest (specifically fox) control and weed control (specifically Juncus acutusand other saltmarsh weeds) implemented in Hunter Wetlands National Park and adjacent lands in Hexham Swamp.

Each project funded under theAboriginal Land Management Team Grants Program must also include:

  • A project plan for the proposed project area, which should include:
  • Property inspection
  • Outline key areas of priority
  • Project timeframe and delivery schedule for coordination of implementing proposed activities for addressing key priority areas
  • Cooperation with other agencies, and landholders
  • Training, capacity building or employment for Aboriginal Land Management Team members related to the project.
  • Review of project and maintenance plan for site – 5 years maintenance required.
  • Final report submitted to LLS by 31st May 2017.
  • At least one media opportunity (flyer, media release, online article, video etc) to help promote the project to the Aboriginal and wider community.

Types of activities that will not be funded by LLS under this program include:

  • Purely production oriented activities.
  • Major farm water supplies including irrigation.
  • Purely noxious weed control.
  • Purchase of machinery and computer hardware and software, where there is no demonstrated land use change.
  • Activities more appropriately funded by other bodies.
  • Activities that the land managers can reasonably be expected to undertake to ensure sustainable management of areas under their control.
  • Work that is undertaken before the project agreement for the proposal is signed or after the project agreement ends.
  • Projects that mainly beautify or improve amenity.
  • Standard boundary fencing that is the landholder’s normal responsibility.
  • Capital works, for example construction of buildings or viewing platforms to improve amenity.
  • Expert advice that could alternatively be provided by the LLS or other government agency.
  • Research.
  • Any works for mostly private benefit.
  • Activities that may be required due to: legal responsibilities, compliance with development consents and/or reasonable duty of care.
  • Activities that do not directly deliver on the specified HLLS strategic plan outcomes.

The following activities will not be funded under the National Landcare Programme component of this program:

  • Activities or investments undertaken, or liabilities incurred, before the Commonwealth enters into a written funding agreement with the successful Applicant
  • Activities that will be receiving, or completed activities that have previously received, funding through other Australian Government (including Caring for our Country or the Biodiversity Fund), state or territory or local government funding initiatives or programmes, or from other third parties, where those activities are substantially the same and in the same location
  • Activities that are the responsibility, or the business, of state, territory or local governments or of private land managers, including activities that are a legislative and regulatory responsibility, such as managing or controlling certain weeds or compliance activities, and activities that would be considered a landholder’s responsibility, such as standard boundary fencing. These activities may be undertaken in conjunction with Programme funded activities provided that Programme funding is not used for them
  • Activities that are required to be undertaken by any person or are part of an approval under Commonwealth, state or territory legislation, for example, the provision of an environmental offset under the EPBC Act
  • Activities that are likely to have a significant adverse impact on any species or ecological community listed under the EPBC Act, an ecosystem of national or international significance (e.g. a Ramsar listed site, World Heritage area or part of the National Reserve System) or activities with the potential to exacerbate a threatening process listed under the EPBC Act
  • Activities that may have a significant adverse impact on Indigenous cultural heritage and which have not received approval through relevant state or territory legislative requirements
  • Activities that involve planting of species (including native species) that are known to be, or could become, environmental or agricultural weeds in or near the project location
  • Activities or elements of activities that are primarily for the purpose of beautifying or improving amenity, for example, landscaping, picnic tables, shelters and paving
  • Activities that predominantly support applied research, tool building and/or development of modelling approaches except where an activity of this nature is demonstrably required to achieve outcomes in line with Programme objectives and outcomes

Where to get assistance?

LLS staffare available to assist you with developing your application, including providing advice on best practice management, design, costing, and developing a detailed project works map. All applications must be accompanied by a project works map showing the location and type of proposed management activities on your property.

Landholders are invited to submit aRequest for Assistance (RFA) for this program to Hunter LLS by 2 September 2016. RFAs can be made by contacting LLS staff (see below) or completing an online RFA available at

Applications for Aboriginal Land Management and Capacity Building Grants Program will need to complete a Land Management Grant Application Form.

Contact details for your local office and Grant program contact officers:

  • Lower Hunter - Toby Whaleboat (Grant Program Manager)

Phone: 0429 303 765

Email:

  • Upper Hunter – Sarah Giblin

Ph:02 6540 2414

Email:

  • Manning-Great Lakes – Geoff Foster

Ph: 02 65518994 Ext 243

Email:

Lodging Applications

Applications can be lodged in two ways.

  1. Submit the original signed application to the LLS by 16 September 2016. Applications post marked this date will be accepted.

Aboriginal Land Management Team Grants Program

Hunter Local Land Services

Private Bag 2010

Paterson NSW 2421

  1. Submit your application electronically by 16 September 2016 to

Electronically lodged applications must come from the applicant’s e-mail account and must include a copy of the LLS produced map. The subject line should include the following information:

HR_xxx-“Applicant surname”

(the HR_xxx project identifier will be provided by your LLS Officer)

Applications that are sent directly to LLS staff will not be accepted.

As map files can be large in size, please email your application and map separately to ensure the emails are transmitted by the due date but ensure to include the HRXXXX on all correspondence.

Incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Assessment Process

Applications will be initially screened to confirm that all eligibility criteria are met and there is sufficient information in the form for an assessment to be made.

Applications will then be assessed by a panel against the following criteria:

  1. The degree to which the project delivers on the objectives of the funding program
  2. The degree to which the project delivers on investor priorities
  3. The scale of outcomes
  4. The degree to which project actions are likely to deliver the intended outcomes
  5. The capacity to complete planned works on time
  6. The relative proportion of applicants in-kind and/or cash contributions
  7. The approach to monitoring evaluation and reporting
  8. The approach to Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
  9. The degree to which the applicant has engaged in previous grant programs
  10. The likelihood of the project delivering productivity benefits

The LLS may contact applicants during the assessment process to confirm or clarify any information in the application form.

All applicants will be notified of the outcome of the assessment process.

Further rounds may be opened in 2016-17 if all funds are not allocated.

1

Hunter Local Land Services

Conditions of funding

Contracts

All Hunter LLS Land Management Grants will be delivered through a Land Management Agreement.

A copy of the standard contract with all the terms and conditions is available to all applicants to review prior to submitting the application. Please contact the LLS office to access a copy of the standard agreement template.

The contract will need to be signed by the applicant and the land owner (If different). The landholder on the application should match the landholder that will sign the contract and this should also match landholder that will receive the Grant funds.

How will you be paid?

A payment schedule will be determined as part of funding agreement negotiations. Funds will generally be paid 40% on completion of the first milestone which will generally be the submission of a WHS management plan and baseline photo-point monitoring. The remainder of funds will paid on completion of agreed milestones with 10% being withheld for the submission and approval of the final report.

All Grant payments from the LLS will be made during the 2016-17 financial year provided milestones are achieved.

Milestone payments may require a site inspection by the LLS to verify completion of the milestone. A final report on the project outcomes will be required to receive the final payment.

Payment will be made on receipt of a signed ATO compliant tax invoice on completion of agreement milestones.

GST registered Grantees will be paid 10% GST on top of the approved Grant amount.

Applicants should discuss the implications of receiving funding from the LLS with a financial adviser prior to applying.

Monitoring and Reporting

All on-ground projects funded by the LLS will be required to undertake photo point monitoring or take before and after photos of activities. The LLS has a guideline for photo monitoringon the website.

The LLSmay also require monitoring of groundcover using the step point monitoring method or native vegetation condition monitoring depending on the type of activities proposed.