City of Newcastle: Youth Climate Action Grant Program (Australia)

The Youth Climate Action Grant program is to support young people to design, produce and govern urgent climate solutions that advance their Newcastle Climate Action Plan targets of a net-zero emissions community by 2040.

Objectives

• Encouraging Clean Technology: Research, promote and/ or implement energy efficiency and the uptake of renewable energy. For example, community renewable energy and battery storage initiatives.
• Building a Circular Economy: Research, promote and/ or implement a circular economy. For example, sustainable procurement, waste avoidance and local sourcing, production and consumption of materials.
• Enhance their urban blue and green spaces. For example, tree planting and biodiversity, wetlands, bushland and waterways
• Supporting Electric Transport: Research, promote and/ or implement charging solutions for electric vehicles, and/or incentivise the uptake of electric vehicles and zero-emission transport.
• Advancing New Zero Emission Industries: Research, promote and/ or implement zero-emission industries. For example, establishment of low emissions technology and/or support for a just transition.

Funding Information

• Grant amount: $1,500 – $7,500.

Ineligible Activities

• Involved in any Socially Harmful Activity and/or manufacture, distribution and wholesaling of an Addictive Drug;
• Found guilty of illegal or improper conduct by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) or any similar authority;
• Subject of a criminal conviction imposed by a Court of New South Wales or other jurisdiction in Australia, including for any offence under the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) and the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth);
• Involved in political fields or affiliations, eg political parties;
• Other local, state or federal government departments and agencies;
• Involved in a competitive tender or purchasing process for the same Activity, at, or around the time of negotiating a Grant or other Funding Agreement;
• Record of unsatisfactory Acquittal of prior Grant, Sponsorship or other Funding Agreement with CN;
• Record of outstanding debt with CN;
• Employees of CN or Councillors are not eligible to directly apply for funding. If an employee of CN or Councillor is a party to an application submission this must be declared, and the employee or Councillor is unable to take part in the assessment process of the Grant program.

Eligibility Criteria

• Legally constituted not-for-profit youth organisations supporting youth between 15 and 24 years of age
• Small businesses (20 employees or less) that represent youth between 15 and 24 years of age
• Individuals must be Auspiced by an eligible entity
• For individuals or organisations that were successful in receiving funding for round 1 of the Youth Climate Action Grants (June 2024), the application for round 2 must demonstrate significant change or development. The application will need to clarify what are the new components of their project and how round 2 funding scales up, or goes beyond the project that was started and concluded in round 1.
• Applicants must operate within the Newcastle Local Government Area and/or be able to demonstrate that the Activity will directly benefit residents of Newcastle;
• Applications must be received on or before the advertised due date and completed with the required level of detail and supporting documentation;
• Applicant’s Activity must begin after the Grant funding commencement date;
• Funding for retrospective, recurrent or ongoing funding will not be considered;
• The Activity must be consistent with the CSP, Climate Action Plan and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
• Applicants must have the appropriate level of insurance for the Activities that are the subject of the funding request. CN has a minimum requirement for $20m Public Liability Insurance. It is the Applicants responsibility to ensure that CN is supplied updated certification throughout the Activity’s timeline;
• Applicants must be capable of obtaining all regulatory approvals for the Activity, including those required from CN for the proposed Activity;
• Where an Activity will involve adults working with children, successful applicants must undertake the necessary ‘Working with Children’ checks. The applicant must provide CN with a letter advising of the successful completion and clearance of these checks prior to commencement of Activity. The letter must be signed by an office bearer of the organisation receiving the Grant.

Ineligibility Criteria

• Activities that duplicate existing services or have a current Funding Agreement in place for the same Activity. This applies to all funding from CN including Grants, Sponsorships and Special Business Rate Funding. This includes cash and in-kind support;
• Religious ceremonies and/or Activities that exclude the general population where the promotion of a single faith is the main purpose, or religious Activities that could be perceived as divisive in the community;
• Profit making Activities where the profits are allocated to shareholders, owners and/or members;
• Activities that vilify or discriminate a person or persons in respect of race, religion or sexual orientation or use live animals as part of a performance;
• Applications seeking funds for prize money, gifts or awards or general fundraising appeals including those seeking funding for representative sport or cultural Activities;
• Applications seeking funds for coursework or fees; ongoing operational costs including rent or lease cost; accommodation or travel costs;
• Fees and charges associated with compliance or development applications payable to CN.

For more information, visit City of Newcastle.