Community groups are urged to contact their local member of parliament with their project ideas for the recently announced Communities Environment Program.

The Australian Government will invest more than $22 million in 2019-20 to deliver a wide range of on-ground projects that conserve, protect and sustainably manage our environment.

Under the Communities Environment Program, each federal electorate can receive up to $150,000 in grant funding for small-scale, community-led projects nominated by the local Member of Parliament in consultation with the community will focus on environmental priorities such as:

• waste and litter reduction
• protecting native animals, including our threatened species
• addressing weeds and pest animals
• restoring and improving coasts, wetlands, riverbanks and waterways
• greening parks and urban areas.

This program aims to support the environmental priorities of local community and environment groups in their regions and neighbourhoods. It aims to not only recover and strengthen our environment, but also to build and strengthen our communities.

Each electorate can receive funding for up to 20 projects, with the minimum grant amount being $2500 and the maximum grant amount set at $20,000. And sitting Members of Parliament will consult with their community to identify potential projects for their respective electorates.

This program is expected to commence in the 2019-2020 financial year. Guidelines and application forms are expected to be available mid-year.

In the meantime, community groups can contact their local members can consult with community groups about environment projects in their electorates ahead of the program opening.

Our friends at the National Landcare Network have provided the following advice sourced from the Department of Environment and Energy (DoEE) with regard to the program.

• Applicants should not contact the Department of Environment and Energy (DoEE) at this time, they have no information to provide specific to the grants.
• All potential applicants should contact their sitting local member, and other potential local members and submit expressions of interest, some may or may not have EOI forms for them to use, if not just submit a 1 page EOI, of course the same EOI can be sent to all candidates.
• There will be some sort of selection and criteria provided to Local members by the Department to “assist” them in selecting projects to fund, when and who is doing so is determined.
• Groups should be encouraged to submit projects that meet DoEE funding priorities such as threatened species, and bio-diversity conservation and protection, as these will feature strongly, notwithstanding local priorities and preferences of local members.

Contact details for members of Parliament are provided below:

 

Electorate	Federal Member	Contact Email
Brand	Ms Madeleine King	madeleine.king.mp@aph.gov.au
Burt	Mr Matt Keogh MP	matt.keogh.mp@aph.gov.au
Canning	Mr Andrew Hastie MP	andrew.hastie.mp@aph.gov.au
Cowan	Prof. Anne Aly MP	anne.aly.mp@aph.gov.au
Curtin	Ms Julie Bishop MP	julie.bishop.mp@aph.gov.au
Durack	Hon. Melissa Price MP	melissa.price.mp@aph.gov.au
Forrest	Ms Nola Marino MP	nola.marino.mp@aph.gov.au
Fremantle	Mr Josh Wilson MP	josh.wilson.mp@aph.gov.au
Hasluck	Hon. Kenneth Wyatt AM MP	ken.wyatt.mp@aph.gov.au
Moore	Mr Ian Goodenough	ian.goodenough.mp@aph.gov.au
O’Connor	Mr Rick Wilson MP	rick.wilson.mp@aph.gov.au
Pearce	Hon. Christian Porter MP	christian.porter.mp@aph.gov.au
Perth	Mr Patrick Gorman MP	patrick.gorman.mp@aph.gov.au
Stirling	Hon. Michael Keenan MP	michael.keenan.mp@aph.gov.au
Swan	Mr Stephen Irons MP	steve.irons.mp@aph.gov.au
Tangney	Mr Ben Morton MP	ben.morton.mp@aph.gov.au