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Community Grants Program

Community Grants Program

The Community Grants Program offers grants up to $10,000 to eligible community organisations or initiatives that align with Queensland Hydro’s Community Benefits Framework.

The inaugural round of the Community Grants Program ran from 2 September 2024 until 11 October 2024. From 2025, the program will run twice per year for the lifetime of the proposed Borumba Pumped Hydro Project.

Applicants need to be located within the Somerset or Gympie local government areas and follow the application criteria. The initiative must align with one of the four strategic priorities: tourism and economy, health and wellbeing, environment and sustainability, and community connection.

These strategic priorities, our community benefits vision and values are included in the Community Benefits Framework. It also outlines our assessment approach.

Tourism is an important driver and presents significant opportunities to grow and leverage enduring positive benefits for the local area and broader region surrounding our project locations.

We will support initiatives that help people and economies thrive. We will do this through local economic development activities that build capacity, capability and resilience to enable our communities and regions to grow and prosper.

Health and wellness is at the core of every individual and collectively contributes to the vibrancy at the heart of every community.

We will support initiatives that deliver optimum health and wellness benefits to the local community. This may include programs or activities targeting community participation, or infrastructure of recreational facilities to enable them.

We understand and value the importance of respecting and nurturing the environment that surrounds us, in both its natural and developed forms.

We will support initiatives that enhance, protect and celebrate the local environment. Ensuring a sustainable future for the land, skies and water surrounding our communities will benefit us all.

Connection creates community. We will support initiatives that contribute to community connectedness.

This may include programs or activities that bring people together, connect cultures, backgrounds, ages and stages of life. It may include physical connections to enhance towns and local areas so there are pathways to connect or places to gather.

We will recognise and preserve the history and culture that underpins the area, celebrate creativity and the arts emerging from our communities, knowing that connection is at the essence.

The first round of Queensland Hydro’s Community Grants Program is now closed.

Key dates for the first round:

  • Applications open: Monday 2 September 2024
  • Applications close: Friday 11 October 2024
  • Evaluation period: October-November 2024
  • Notification of outcome: Early December 2024

If you have submitted an application, Queensland Hydro will be in touch in early December. Our Community Team is available for any questions you might have.

Reach out via [email protected].

Applications for the Community Grants Program are assessed against three criteria. It is important to understand that not every application that meets the assessment criteria receives funding.

  • Strategic fit: does the initiative align with our objectives and have local relevance?
  • Community value: does the initiative have positive community outcomes, and is it inclusive?
  • Deliverability: is the initiative feasible and does it have a practice execution plan?

Queensland Hydro remains committed to ensuring that benefits are delivered for the community, by the community. A Community Benefits Panel was established in August 2024 to ensure that the community can have a say about how and where community benefits funding is allocated. The Panel is responsible for reviewing, prioritising and making recommendations on grant submissions to Queensland Hydro. The Panel also plays an important role in creating awareness about the Community Grants Program and encouraging community groups to apply.

To ensure a robust, equitable and transparent process, an independent assessor also verifies that all grant submissions meet the eligibility criteria before being reviewed by the Community Benefits Panel.

In addition to our Community Grants Program, Queensland Hydro offers sponsorship to eligible industry and community events.

The Sponsorship Program is run on an ongoing basis and is available to communities around our Borumba pumped hydro project.