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Guidelines

Pick My Project is a community grants initiative, with $30 million available to fund local projects. Come up with a project idea, vote for your favourites and make your community an even better place to live.

How should I use these Guidelines?

Read these guidelines, along with other Pick My Project information such as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), before you submit your project idea. You can also download and print the guidelines below.

Pick My Project Guidelines PDF (95 KB)

Pick My Project Guidelines DOCX (82 KB)

What’s the process?

Step 1:  Submitting your project idea (May – June 2018)

  1. Start thinking about a great idea for a project that could make your community an even better place to live.
  2. Chat to your friends and neighbours about your project idea and get their thoughts before you write your application.
  3. Read these guidelines to make sure you and your project idea are eligible for funding.
  4. Identify and seek agreement from an eligible organisation to partner with you to help deliver your project.
  5. If your project idea is for something on land, you’ll need acknowledgement from the landholder for the project to be eligible. Download our Landholder Acknowledgement Form (PDF 309KB) and attach your completed form to your application. If your project is on local or State Government owned or managed lands, the Pick My Project team will liaise with them on your behalf during the eligibility review period.
  6. Work with your partner organisation to cost your project to ensure your proposed budget is realistic, using the budget guidance material provided.
  7. Remember to submit a great photo for your project to encourage your community to vote for your project! Make sure you have the approvals required to use the photo in your promotion.

Step 2: Review (June – Early August 2018)

At the end of the application phase, we’ll confirm your project’s eligibility by:

  1. Reviewing your application against these guidelines. This will include an initial assessment of your budget.
  2. Contacting your partner organisation to discuss your project and confirm its support. If support isn’t granted, your project will be ineligible and won’t progress to the voting stage.
  3. Confirming with your guardian if you’re aged 16 or 17.
  4. Advising your landholder, where one has been identified.
  5. You’ll be able to track the progress of your application on the Pick My Project website through all stages of the program.

Step 3:  Voting (August - September 2018)

  1. We’ll contact you by email before voting starts to let you know if your project is eligible.
  2. Victorian residents aged 16 and over will have the opportunity to vote on eligible projects in their community.
  3. During voting, you need to get out and promote your project to your neighbours and networks to encourage them to vote.

Who is eligible to apply

To be eligible to apply, you need to:

  • Be a Victorian resident
  • Be aged 16 and over. For participants aged 16 or 17, guardian approval is required
  • Register for Pick My Project. This will require email verification.

We welcome eligible organisations submitting project ideas, however, they must identify a local resident who supports the idea and lives in the community where the project is proposed. This local resident will need to submit the application on behalf of the organisation.

You can submit as many project ideas as you wish.

What can be funded?

To be eligible for funding, your project must:

  • Align with the Pick My Project objective of making your community an even better place to live
  • Align with the project categories set out below
  • Cost between $20,000 to $200,000 (GST inclusive)
  • Be open or available to the wider community (e.g. a playground or community garden that is behind locked gates would not be eligible)
  • Be completed within 12 months from the date of signing the funding agreement and any necessary development approvals and permissions
  • Be able to be funded entirely through the Pick My Project funding, unless additional funding has already been sourced.

Project categories

Projects will need to align with one of the following categories:

  • Mobility and transport
  • Community infrastructure, open space, sport and recreation
  • Community inclusion, health and safety
  • Arts and culture
  • Environment, sustainability and waste
  • Innovation and technology
  • Education, training and skills
  • Jobs, economic development, agriculture and tourism.

Examples of projects that may be funded

All applications need to be able to demonstrate how the project will make your community an even better place to live. This could include small infrastructure projects, services or events, or programs to improve community and bring people together.

Examples of projects that could be funded through Pick My Project could include:

  • Community cultural events/festivals
  • Repair or swap cafes/sheds
  • Playground upgrades
  • Smart lighting (e.g. for footpaths or public transport stops)
  • Urban landscaping
  • Skill share programs
  • Walking/cycling trails
  • Neighbourhood/community markets
  • Community gardens
  • Community/public art.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list but is provided to help you think about a great project idea. Another place to find inspiration for local projects is through the Metropolitan and Regional Partnership priorities or your local council’s plan.

What can’t be funded?

Projects that do not meet these guidelines or the program objective of making communities an even better place to live will not be eligible for funding.

The following projects are not eligible for funding:

  • Projects that do not align with these guidelines, and other documentation including terms and conditions
  • Ongoing operational or maintenance costs for projects
  • Projects from which the applicant or their immediate family will personally profit. Salaries for project administration are not considered personal profit
  • Projects that have commenced or have been completed prior to the application being submitted
  • Projects that are located outside Victoria
  • Illegal, malicious or discriminatory activities or projects that will result in neighbourhood division
  • Projects that are contradictory to government or landholder policy or practices
  • Projects already accounted for in a local council’s 2018-19 budget statement
  • Costs for feasibility studies, research/study placements, business cases or similar reports
  • Costs associated with the preparation of the application
  • Projects that are deemed to be unfeasible (due to budget, time constraints, legislative or regulatory constraints, technical constraints or similar)
  • Projects for a private or for-profit purpose
  • Projects that cannot be delivered within 12 months of signing the funding agreement (excluding time required for receipt of any necessary development approvals and permissions).

If you’re unsure about your project’s eligibility, talk to the Pick My Project team on 1800 797 818, or visit pickmyproject.vic.gov.au and sign up for an information session near you.

What is the funding range?

Projects can cost anything between $20,000 and $200,000 (GST inclusive). 
The grant sought should be for the value of the entire project, unless the project has already been partially funded. 

Who can be a partner organisation and what will they need to do?

While individuals can submit project applications, any approved funding needs to be paid directly to their partner organisation.

As part of submitting your application, your nominated partner organisation will be emailed to confirm their support. You must have agreement with this organisation before you submit your application. If support isn’t granted, your project won’t progress to the voting stage.

To be an eligible project partner, an organisation must have the capacity to deliver and manage the project for which funding is being sought, including meeting all reporting requirements. Its board of management, responsible officer or equivalent must have consented to acting as a partner organisation before the project is submitted.

In the case of public schools, the contact person should be the Principal of the school, who will consult with the school council.

Eligible partner organisations include:

  • Incorporated community groups under relevant legislation, including the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) or the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic)
  • Incorporated and registered not-for-profit organisations
  • Local councils
  • Victorian State Government agencies
  • Library corporations
  • Schools, kindergartens and child care centres

Your partner organisation must have a current ABN as they will be responsible for receiving and managing your project funding and be accountable for delivery of the project.

Businesses/organisations and individuals outside of Victoria are not eligible for funding. 

What information do I need to submit?

When submitting an application, you must:

  • Register with Pick My Project, including your contact information (and your guardian’s contact information if you’re aged 16 or 17 by completing and uploading the guardian consent form). Registering will require email verification
  • Agree with the site terms of use, these guidelines and relevant privacy policies
  • Complete the application form with the information requested.

More information

How will voting work?

Following the review process, all eligible project ideas will be geographically mapped across the state.

To vote, you’ll need to:

  • Be a Victorian
  • Be aged aged 16 and over
  • Register for account on the Pick My Project website.

Once you have registered, you will have three votes to spend on project ideas you would like to see funded in your local community. You can select your community by searching for your street address, locality or dropping a pin on the map.

In metropolitan areas, you will be able to choose from project ideas located within 5km of your community.

In regional partnership areas, you will be able to choose from project ideas located within 50km of your community.

Everyone will be able to choose from a minimum of 30 projects. If there are less than 30 projects within 5km in the metropolitan areas or 50km in the regional partnership areas then the voting area will expand until you can see the closest 30 projects.

For regional communities where the voting area overlaps with a metropolitan region, a maximum of 150 projects will be shown.

Projects closest to you will be displayed first.

Registration and verification

All Victorian residents will need to create an account in order to submit their votes for Pick My Project. The following information will be collected for verification purposes to ensure that real Victorians are only submitting three project votes:

  • An active email address – a verification link will be sent to this email.
  • A mobile phone number – an SMS code will be sent to verify the number.
  • Street address and postcode – this information will be used to verify that voters are located in Victoria.

Online voting support

Voting in Pick My Project can only be conducted online. In order to support Victorians that need assistance with the online process the project team will:

  • Undertake face-to-face workshops across Victoria to demonstrate the voting process
  • Undertake a series of step-by-step voting webinars
  • Provide phone and email support through a dedicated contact centre. The Pick My Project contact centre will be able to arrange voting for Victorians without access to a mobile phone.

Announcement of winning projects

Following the announcement of winning projects, all project votes will be made public.

Funding

Grant funding will be distributed across Victoria to ensure all parts of the state have the opportunity to secure a range of winning projects. State Government Metropolitan and Regional geographical partnership areas will be used to help distribute funding. Further information on the distribution of grant funding will be made available prior to voting.

Successful organisations will need to enter into a funding agreement. Payments will be made by the State Government on completion of agreed milestones.

Any overspend on projects will be the responsibility of the applicant and no further funding from Pick My Project will be provided. In the event of an underspend, any surplus funds held by the awarded organisation will need to be returned.  

All work and agreements as part of funding will need to comply with Victorian Government and other relevant procurement processes.

Funding recipients will be required to comply with project monitoring and reporting requirements.

Terms and Conditions

Application phase

By submitting a project, I agree and acknowledge that:

  1. I am 16 years and over. For participants aged 16 or 17, guardian approval is required.
  2. Individuals, organisations and the project for which funding is sought must meet the requirements set out in the guidelines, FAQs and other program documentation.
  3. For my project to be eligible for voting, consent needs to be given from an eligible partner organisation.
  4. To be an eligible partner organisation, an organisation must have the capacity to deliver and manage the project for which funding is being sought, including meeting all reporting requirements. Its board of management, responsible officer (or equivalent) must have consented to acting as a partner organisation before the project is submitted.
  5. No personal profit will be made by me or my immediate family. Salaries for project administration are not considered personal profit. 
  6. Project administration costs up to 10 per cent for projects up to $100,000 (GST inclusive) and 15 per cent for projects up to $200,000 (GST inclusive) may be included.
  7. Projects on land will need to provide evidence of land holder acknowledgement, by submitting a signed Landholder Acknowledgement Form. Where projects are on local or State Government owned or managed lands, the Pick My Project team will liaise with the land holder during the eligibility review.
  8. Eligible organisations may participate but must have a local resident who supports the project and resides in the community in which the project is proposed. The resident must submit the application on the organisation's behalf.
  9. Projects which are already included in forward plans of local councils are able to be considered through this process. However, projects must not already be accounted for in a council’s 2018-19 budget statement.
  10. Where there are similar projects in the same area, the first project submitted will be accepted. The Pick My Project team may also merge similar projects before the voting period. If the team do this, they’ll inform all submitters of the similar idea.
  11. Projects must be able to be delivered within 12 months of signing the funding agreement. This doesn’t include any necessary approvals and permissions.
  12. Funding is one-off only. Ongoing operational and maintenance costs must be covered by the responsible organisation. Additional Victorian State Government funding will not be provided if project cost exceeds the proposed budget.
  13. Information provided in the project application and/or follow-up with the Department of the Premier and Cabinet:
    • will be made available to members of the public
    • may be provided to relevant government agencies and organisations, where necessary, to determine whether the project is feasible, viable and that appropriate approvals have been obtained
    • may be combined with another similar project at the Pick my Project team’s discretion
    • may undergo changes to budget during eligibility review by the relevant landholder or other relevant organisations
    • will be published on pickmyproject.vic.gov.au, or other Victorian Government agency websites or publications
    • may be reviewed for language and readability; and
    • may be used for promotional activities.
  14. I have permission to use the photo or image attached to my application and its use doesn’t violate copyright.
  15. Information supplied in my application is accurate and, if the project is selected, can be used to form the basis of a funding agreement. The funding agreement will specify, based on agreed milestones, when funds will be provided.
  16. The Victorian Government reserves the right to exclude submitted projects if the proposed project is not consistent with government or landholder policy or practice.
  17. Project proposals will be subject to usual local and State Government approvals and processes, if necessary (e.g. development approvals, additional localised consultation).
  18. Projects and applicants deemed ineligible will not receive detailed feedback on their application.
  19. No late applications can be accepted.
  20. I may be contacted for an interview or filming as part of being involved with Pick My Project.

Voting phase

By voting, I agree and acknowledge that:

  1. I can only register to vote once.
  2. I am 16 years and older.
  3. The Victorian Government reserves the right to disqualify projects if it’s deemed that any person/organisation affiliated with the project has tampered with the integrity of the voting system.
  4. Late votes will not be accepted.

The Details