The Local Schools Working Together (LSWT) Pilot Program (the Program) encourages schools, councils and/or local businesses to work together to develop first class facilities that will enhance opportunities for Australian school children and may also provide broader community benefit. The Program aims to maximise the benefit of Australian Government infrastructure spending and to promote and encourage facilities to be used to their full capacity at all times.
You should:
- seek the advice of the relevant state or territory liaison officer before proceeding with any application planning; and
- Carefully read the Guidelines
and associated information to determine eligibility and suitability for funding.
You must:
Complete the application form (285.3 KB) template with particular attention to the documentation requirements detailed in Section 5 of the Guidelines, including:
- the project overview, business plan and implementation plan;
- provision of evidence from each partner of their endorsement of the application and their willingness to enter into a User Agreement with the Lead Partner should the application be approved for funding;
- provision of evidence of support from the relevant education authority; and
- the need to provide contact details for the Project Leader should additional information be required.
- Read and understood future requirements should the application progress to Final Development Level.
- Take note of the timeline and assessment process for Program applications (Guidelines Items 4 and 6.3).
- Complete the Application Form Checklist to ensure you have included all relevant information in your application.
The Department will, in accordance with the Program Guidelines:
- provide acknowledgement of receipt of the application;
- determine the eligibility and compliance of each application in accordance with the Guidelines; and
- refer eligible and compliant applications to the National Assessment Panel (NAP) for assessment.
The NAP will:
assess all applications for funding. Each application will receive a classification in accordance with the following:
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Category A applications are those highly suitable for funding subject to the application reaching Final Development Level within a specified period of time;
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Category B applications are those suitable for funding subject to available funds. Applicants whose applications are assessed as Category B may be invited to re-submit the application in Round Two if the project is not funded in the first round;
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Category C applications are those invited to continue development of the proposal with a view to re-submitting, on a 'without prejudice' basis, for Funding Round Two - 2009-10; and
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Category D applications are those applications considered unsuitable in their current form.
Categories B and C will not be available in Funding Round Two - 2009-2010.
Following assessment, the NAP will provide the Minister with a list of projects classified in accordance with the categories described above. The NAP's assessment will be based on a particular project's attributes as applied against the Program assessment criteria and priorities.
The Minister for Education will:
- decide whether to approve funding for the project. The Minister's decision is final and no request for review will be considered.
The Minister for Education or the Program Delegate will:
- advise Applicants of the outcome of their project applications.
Applicants invited to proceed to Final Development Level of the application process will be advised of the particular requirements for their application. The process will involve consultation with the Department, state/territory government representatives and non-government school authorities.
In addition to the submission requirements detailed at Item 5.1 of the Guidelines, Final Development Level applications will need to include:
- a revised project overview (including final sketch plans);
- a revised business plan, including updated financial plans, proposed project payment plans and a certified true copy of the fully executed User Agreement between all partnership members (subject to final funding approval); and
- a revised implementation plan (including a detailed construction timetable).
Please use these points as a checklist to ensure you have included all relevant information in your Final Development Level application.
The Lead Partner should note:
Upon receipt of the Final Development Level application the Department will:
- confirm that the application has been received within the nominated timeframe;
- conduct appropriate checks to ensure that the application meets the required standard and contains all of the requested additional information; and
- upon approval, prepare and despatch two copies of the Funding Agreement to the Applicant. The Funding Agreement is a generic document and individual requirements for each project will be included in the Schedules.
The Funding Recipient will:
- return two signed copies of the Funding Agreement to the Department within the specified timeframe; and
- enclose an invoice for the first payment.
Funding Recipients must:
Inform the Department of the progress of the project in accordance with the reporting requirements detailed in individual Funding Agreements. The reporting process will include, as a minimum:
- completion of a quarterly report;
- provision of evidence of completion of significant milestones as contained in the Funding Agreement; and
- provision of a correctly rendered tax invoice to accompany each milestone report.
The Department will:
- ensure that progress payments are processed as per the Funding Agreement.
Potential Applicants should familiarise themselves with the recognition requirements contained in the Funding Agreement and the Guidelines (Item 7.3). These include the requirement to have formalised a date for an appropriate recognition ceremony before the final payment can be made.
Potential applicants should familiarise themselves with the recognition requirements contained in the Funding Agreement, including the requirement for funding recipients to have set a date for an appropriate recognition ceremony before the final payment can be made.
Applicants invited to re-submit an application for consideration in the second funding round need to ensure lodgement in accordance with the Guidelines and the timeframes publicised on the Program website. An invitation to re-submit does not imply any commitment for funding on behalf of the Australian Government and revised applications will be considered in competition with all others.
Applicants who receive advice of the unsuitability of their proposal can seek feedback from the Department in accordance with Item 6.5 of the Guidelines (370.0 KB). Such Applicants are not excluded from developing a new proposal for consideration in the second funding round.
There are no standard templates available. Following this pilot program we hope to have examples of best practice. The Guidelines provide some comment about expected content. The key requirement is to provide sufficient detail to enable the National Assessment Panel to understand fully, the proposed project and how it will function both operationally and financially.
While there is an emphasis for partnerships across education sectors, a partnership between a government school and other community based partners remains eligible for consideration. These partnerships may take many forms, examples being a government high school and a government primary school or local council. Similarly a Catholic or independent school may form a partnership with their local council, or other eligible partners. An application must demonstrate that educational outcomes are improved and that a benefit is provided to the community to be confident of gaining sufficient priority in a competitive process.