Up to $800,000 is available from the Managing Fruit Fly Regional Grants Program to support projects that will reduce the impacts of fruit fly in Victoria.
Managing Fruit Fly Regional Grants Program
The Managing Fruit Fly Regional Grants Program will assist in the delivery of a coordinated and collaborative approach to fruit fly management across Victoria in alignment with the state-wide Action Plan.
Background
The Managing Fruit Fly Regional Grants Program will empower regional Victorian industries and communities to take the lead on fruit fly management in their local area through the development and delivery of state aligned, regionally specific action plans which include the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders (industry, community, local and state governments) at the local level.
The Victorian Government acknowledges the impact and potential risks of fruit flies and as a result, in partnership with industry and community, has developed the Managing Fruit Fly in Victoria: Action Plan 2015-2020 (the State-wide Action Plan).
Objectives
The State-wide Action Plan recognises that fruit fly management in Victoria is a shared responsibility. Industry, government and community all need to work together to reduce the impacts of fruit fly on horticulture productivity, quality and market access opportunities.
The five year State-wide Action Plan focuses on three areas:
- strengthened fruit fly management through state and regional coordination and collaboration;
- improved fruit fly management in commercial orchards and communities; and
- improved access to intrastate, interstate and international market access and trade opportunities.
Funding
- Community Grants – funding between $2,000 to $5,000 (excluding GST) is available to successful groups or organisations to support fruit fly management in regional Victoria.
- Regional Action Plan Grants – funding of up to $800,000 (excluding GST) is available to eligible applicants to undertake fruit fly (QFF) management activities that align to the managing fruit fly in Victoria Action Plan and associated Regional Action Plan.
Eligible Projects
Community Grants will fund:
- Projects that encourage community or industry to build awareness and increase control of fruit fly (e.g. workshops, seminars, displays and DIY trap building).
- Projects that support community wide action to manage fruit fly (e.g. fruit fly trapping, netting, host tree removal and hygiene).
Regional Action Plan Grants will fund:
- regional fruit fly control programs: e.g. coordinated trapping or baiting programs
- regional fruit fly surveillance programs e.g. coordinated surveillance projects involving community, schools, industry and local government
- hygiene projects to limit fruit fly populations e.g. coordinated host removal projects involving community, industry and local government
- research and development projects, and including small scale novel pilots and research trials which have significant scientific research to support findings, may be considered. Research will need to provide information and practical proven methodologies which will have direct benefit to intrastate, interstate and international trade
- communication and engagement projects that promote best practice in fruit fly management for community and industry, for example as part of a schools program.
- projects that have legacy beyond the life of the projects that can be supported sustainably will be looked upon favourably.
Eligible Applicants
The following groups in rural and regional Victoria are eligible to apply for Community Grants:
- Horticulture Industry groups such as Horticultural Industry associations
- Victorian regional local government authorities (e.g. Shire or Rural City Council).
- Not-for-profit organisations and community groups that:
- Are an incorporated body, cooperative or association
- Have an Australian Business Number (ABN) or can provide written advice from the Australian Tax Office that no withholding tax is required from the grant payment.
Applications for Regional Action Plan Grants will be considered from:
- horticulture industry groups such as grower associations, peak bodies and industry development committees within the Greater Sunraysia, Goulburn-Murray Valley and Yarra Valley regions
- not for profit organisations such as community groups that are an:
- incorporated body, co-operative or association
- have an Australian Business Number (ABN) or can provide written advice from the Australian Tax Office that no withholding tax is required from the grant payment
- local government authorities in the regional area
- educational Institutions such as TAFEs and Universities.
Timing
Applications for Regional Action Plan Grants now closed and Community Grants applications close 17 May 2019.
Round 1 Recipients
In Round One of the Grants Program, eight grant applications were approved in the Goulburn Murray Valley, Greater Sunraysia and Yarra Valley regions. Endorsed by their respective regional governance groups, the successful grant applicants demonstrated how they would support the implementation of Regional Action Plans by raising awareness of fruit fly in their communities and delivering management programs at a local level.
| Who | How Much | To Fund |
|---|---|---|
| Moira Shire Council | $398,861 | A Regional Coordinator, for two years and six months, to project manage the implementation of the Goulburn Murray Valley Regional Action Plan. |
| Greater Sunraysia Pest Free Area Industry Development Committee | $332,325 | A Regional Coordinator, for two years, to project manage the implementation of the Greater Sunraysia Pest Free Area Operational Plan. |
| Agribusiness Yarra Valley on behalf of the Yarra Valley Regional Governance Group | $296,760 | A Regional Coordinator, for two years, to project manage the implementation of the Yarra Valley Regional Action Plan. |
| Moira Shire Council on behalf of the Goulburn Murray Valley Regional Governance Group | $374,200 | Awareness raising through a media campaign, grower and community workshops, host tree registration and removals, local signage and a community engagement program. |
| Moira Shire Council on behalf of the Goulburn Murray Valley Regional Governance Group | $261,520 | The establishment of a trapping grid throughout the Goulburn Murray Region, which will be used to inform local fruit fly control efforts and planning. |
| The Greater Sunraysia Pest Free Area Industry Development Committee | $997,093 | A comprehensive hygiene program to: identify fruit fly hot spots, deploy extra traps in those areas and remove unwanted and affected host trees; introduce mass baiting in Victorian townships; and educate landholders about best practice control methods for fruit fly. The ultimate goal of this program is to eradicate QFF populations and re-establish the Greater Sunraysia area as a pest-free region. |
| Agribusiness Yarra Valley Inc. on behalf of the Yarra Valley Regional Governance Group | $110,000 | A fruit fly early detection and monitoring program, a risk mitigation plan and resources for community engagement activities to increase awareness of the risks of fruit flies and effective ways to manage them to ensure the area remains QFF free. |
| Box Hill Institute in the Yarra Valley | $83,500 | The development of a school program and risk mitigation masterclass for business and social research by a University of Melbourne Master’s candidate on community engagement. |
