Alison Covington AM

Is your association in a position to Secure Government Grants in 2025? The Australian Government allocates over $800 million annually in business grants, with state governments adding millions more each year. Is your association prepared to access some of this funding? Join our webinar this Thursday, October 31st at 12 noon AEDT, where expert Angela Krepcik, Association Executive Services Consultant, will guide you through the grant application journey. With extensive experience as an association CEO, grant writer, and former Victorian Government grant assessor, Angela provides invaluable insights on: 😎 Understanding the grant application process and assessment criteria 😎 Evaluating your association’s readiness for grant success 😎 Best practices for submitting a winning proposal 😎 Navigating approval, compliance, and contractual obligations 😎 Demonstrating the impact of grants on your association’s growth Don’t miss this chance to enhance your association’s funding potential. To gain insider tips and strategies that could make a real difference for your association register in the link in the comments below #grantwriting #association #associations

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Great article to inspire readers around the importance of the Chair - CEO relationship. Ilana Atlas and Shane Webster leveraging partnership, mentorship and beneficiary centricity. Ilana and Shane share their thoughts on good governance citing mutual respect, collaboration, and empowerment of First Nations communities. The importance of listening, learning, and mutuality in decision-making. Ilana notes that governance is about staying relevant and impactful, ensuring that all stakeholders benefit. For Shane, good governance also means standing "shoulder to shoulder" with Indigenous partners, focusing on institutional integrity and creating long-term, systemic change while balancing leadership with fellowship and respect. Three years ago we worked to support the Jawun Board to help them appoint Shane. This partnership is evidence of a robust process, where everyone involved committed the time and bandwidth to deeply understand people and opportunity to create positive social impact. https://lnkd.in/gu8d36dZ

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This illustrates why we need an independent Statistics Office, not one which is under the control of the Minister and the PAP. I have repeatedly called for one. Please see my previous article from 2022, More Fake News From LHL’s Re-Election Team at His Personal Statistics Department and Media Monopoly If there was even a pretence that POFMA was an objective law then MTI and state media would receive Correction Notices from an independent body. But of course the PAP Government won’t because the whole purpose of POFMA is to leave the PAP unimpeded in its sowing of disinformation using its media mouthpieces which are brazenly paid for with state funds while deterring criticism and allowing them to escape accountability by instilling fear in Singaporeans. Forget truth and objectivity. The sole function of state media is to re-elect the PAP and keep them in power forever. As the election draws closer no doubt the disinformation and misleading presentation of statistics will only intensify.

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STATEMENT FROM VRCA Regional Victorian Building Industry in Crisis: Urgent Government Intervention Needed The Victorian Regional Chamber Alliance (VRCA) is calling for immediate Government action as the residential building industry throughout the State faces an unprecedented crisis. Despite the high demand for housing, regional and rural areas are witnessing a major downturn in all aspects of the housing and residential building industry. Land sales in new subdivisions have virtually stopped and agents are reporting a notable increase in land resales, where the current market value is significantly below the initial purchase price. Prospective homebuilders are therefore experiencing increased difficulty in securing bank finance to build and alarmingly, there has been an unprecedented number of defaults on land settlements. This downward spiral flows onto builders, who are unable to secure stable work which in turn impedes the commencement of much-needed dwelling construction projects across regional Victoria. Earlier this year Victoria experienced its lowest dwelling approvals in over a decade. January saw a staggering 9.8% decline in approvals compared to the previous month, illustrating a severe slowdown in construction activity. This trend underlines the financial strain faced by industry players, threatening the stability of the entire sector. Furthermore, the erosion of confidence in the building sector has led to a notable shift in consumer behaviour, with prospective buyers increasingly favouring established homes over new land and build options. The absence of first-home buyers, residential investors and upgraders in the current land market further exacerbates the challenges faced by industry stakeholders. “The Victorian Government must urgently intervene to address these pressing issues and safeguard the future of the building industry,” says the VRCA. “The Government has set a target of 80,000 new homes in Victoria in the next 10 years. Who is going to build them? Small construction companies are going out of business, looking to commercial work to survive or exiting the industry. “Supply chain issues continue to cause gaps in the construction process, and sub-contractors are stood down until materials arrive, so they too are looking for work outside of residential projects. “Immediate measures such as reassessing land tax policies, revisiting windfall-gains tax regulations, and implementing targeted financial support are essential to restore confidence and stimulate activity. “We call upon the Victorian Government to the prioritise regional and rural Victoria and take decisive action to mitigate the current crisis. Failure to act swiftly risks long term damage to the State's economy and housing market,” the VRCA said. Contact Jodie Gillett for further information

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Empowering Australian Voters: From Passivity to Action #AustralianDemocracy, #EmpoweredVoters, #PoliticalEngagement, #PowerMode   Empowering Australian voters. Learn how Australian voters can transition from passive observers to active participants in democracy, shaping the nation’s future.   https://lnkd.in/gxxc5B5c

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Grant opportunity: Backing the Future Open 26/07/24; Closes 26/08/24; $50,000; Vic Opportunities for Victoria and Queensland have been announced; the Qld one will open early in 2025. The program provides one-off, $50,000 grants over 12 months to support individuals in developing, testing and accelerating projects that benefit young people aged 12-30. The grants are designed as seed funding for new ideas that support young people in their community. The funds can be used to assist in researching, piloting or accelerating early-stage ideas and can be used for a range of purposes such as paying a salary, purchasing technology or covering rent for office space, as long as it supports the approved initiative. You can register for the Information Webinar: 12pm Wednesday 7 August 2024. Projects should align with one of the four key program areas of helping young people to: -Access decent work -Care for the environment -Contribute to society -Explore Christian faith and values. Need grant tips? I share them weekly in my eNews '3-2-1 Grants'. Go to my profile to subscribe. #pruesgold #grants #grantwriting

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Some information was released overnight about the LNP Housing Plan, ahead of today's State Budget reply speech. While there are still many details to come, it's encouraging to see some of the proposed measures in scope, including shared equity programs and major infrastructure partnerships with local government to increase housing supply. New and innovative concepts for maximising church-owned land and utiliising vacant bedrooms make for interesting reading. And if the reports are accurate, there is a strong commitment to achieving housing targets leading up to 2046. Q Shelter is looking forward to unpacking all the details and providing useful budget analysis for the sector. This will include areas of convergence with the major parties on housing policy and differences in approaches. https://lnkd.in/g6FcR_Qh Stay tuned. #StateBudget #Housing #Homelessness #HomeMatters #BetterTogether #Queensland

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As CEO of the Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA), I was pleased to present at today's Parliamentary Inquiry into Local Government Funding and Services alongside Rhys Thomas - the VLGA's Head of Local Government Programs & Policy - on behalf of our members and the local government sector. As Victoria’s leading voice and support network for local councillors and councils, the VLGA highlighted to the Committee that local democracy and the close and accessible relationship that councils have with their municipalities is essential and requires a considered approach when it comes to state and federal government policy interventions at the local level. State governments have powers to change how local government work. However, if done without adequate consultation, the mechanisms for which are provided for in the Victorian State Local Government Agreement - the results may harm local communities and undermine the important role of local government. Victoria’s 79 local councils deliver close to 104 different services and programs to local community members on behalf of the state and federal government. Councils are best placed to deliver a wide range of essential services to the community because they are the most closely placed to listen to and respond to community needs. There is also a very real expectation by communities for local government to advocate on their behalf for better health outcomes in their community – considering diversity and inclusion, safe and affordable housing, changing climate conditions, the licensing of alcohol and gambling venues, and reconciliation efforts, amongst other issues. Councils have limited options for raising their own revenue, primarily through the payment of rates. Rates, together with user-pay charges, fines, and government grants, comprise the revenue base for delivering these services. They also collect revenue for other levels of government, such as waste and fire levies. Escalating CPI, interest rate increases and massive spikes in the cost of construction and utilities are all matters largely outside the control of councils. When combined with the lasting impact of COVID on council income streams and the increased expectations on local government through regulatory change and cost shifting, there are serious and very real concerns about financial sustainability in the sector. Finally, rate capping provides an artificial constraint on the quality of local council services, particularly in rural/regional areas and in fast-growing municipalities. As a result, councils may not be able to fund the community services, programs and infrastructure needed within their communities. However, the expectation from communities will be that services are still delivered – and the question remains – if not by local government – then by whom? Local Government News Roundup Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) LGPro VIC (Local Government Professionals)

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Thanks Alison Croggon for sharing this. We need to hear the ways to find real living wages for artists and in the meantime while we look at big systems. We also have to look at the small structures in existing systems too. The grant making structures that think that a 9% funding rate is a thing that is supporting excellence- it’s a number demonstrating wasted effort, despair and in economic terms lost productivity. Also structures that count artists subsidising their own work as “investment” when we know the market doesn’t financially return on that investment so what we mean is underpayment. And that’s only where the work intersects with grant structures - then there’s all the other disruption and market concentration… but looking forward to hearing this information.

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More #queensland innovation. The new #ford⚡️F150 lightening now has vehicle to load and vehicle to home (your car plugs into your home directly) functions as a direct adaptation to a market need (Samoa). Highly relevant for 🏠s and local government (lease vehicles) as the cars can offer both power in a #disaster and critical offsetting of the 10-15kw peak demand from 6-9pm experienced in most Queensland homes each night and 6-9pm loads for businesses…. This could could power our entire family’s home at night and use less than 10% of the battery capacity 😮 Has anyone driven one yet??? #resilience #workute #storage on #wheels.

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The 10th edition of the Australian Charities Report is out! Some quick key take outs: ✅ In good news, sector revenue increased by 5.6% in the 2022 reporting period, representing an additional $11 billion compared to the previous year; ✅ However, expenses during the same period increased by $22 billion; ✅ Donations grew by 4.4% in 2022, which was lower than the 5.3% increase in donations in 2021; ✅ 'Extra large' charities (more than $100M annual revenue) represent 0.5% of the sector yet receive more than half (54%) of total revenue; ✅ Compared to 'small' charities (less than $50,000 annual revenue) which constitute almost a third of the sector (31%) and receive just 0.1% of the total revenue; and ✅ The 30 largest charities by revenue accounted for 24% of the sector’s revenue and received 20% of all the donations and bequests received by charities in Australia. Reach out if you'd like to have a coffee and dissect this report!

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Are you missing out on this Qld business grant opportunity? The registrations for the Business Boost grants close this Friday at 5pm. It's a very simple process for the Registration of Interest (should take you less than 10 minutes). This support includes up to $20,000 (matching funding) for activities in 3 project areas: -Future planning -Specialised and automated software -Planning and systems for staff management and development. Eligibility includes that your business: -has more than 1 and less than 20 employees (by headcount) -has a turnover of $300,000 (minimum) in the 2023–24 financial year Get in contact if you need a little advice about this! #pruesgold #grants #grantwriting

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Want to make a complaint about the Hobson's Pledge ad in the NZ Herald with the Advertising Standards Authority? Here are the details: https://lnkd.in/gE2_gzYg First page you need to click "Yes, Proceed" four times before you get the "Next" button and can actually start your complaint. Advertiser is Hobson's Pledge, publication is NZ Hearld. You will need a copy of the page (attached). You will need to put in details of why this fails to meet the standards? Having gone through the standards here are a few of my suggestions of principles it goes against: - Rule 1(c) Decency and Offensiveness - Rule 1(f) Violence and anti-social behaviour - Rule 1(g) Fear and Distress - Against Principle 2: Truthful Presentation You will need to put your details in then you can submit the details. Also InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa and DNCL talk about disinformation and misinformation but seem to have no ethics when it comes to holding to account people on our domain names that spew hate about us? Why is this .nz domain still even running? How do we complain? Or is this just showing us how that Systemic racism report is coming along?

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As Statistics Minister, one of my key ambitions is to make data more accessible for the general public and business owners, who might not have big budgets for market research, but could benefit from the wealth of data held by Stats NZ. The Government holds a vast amount of data about our population, economy, our lifestyle, habits and behaviours. Stats NZ will release 2023 Census data on the new Aotearoa Data Explorer today at 10.45am. #statistics #census #businessowners

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The ESPR regulations are the start of a new era for sustainability regulations in Europe, and that will undoubtedly have a significant effect on all of us here in Australia. Kudos to the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence for raising this timely topic. I look forward to talking about the impact of this new framework during Friday's webinar and hope to see many of you there with your questions as we unpack the changes and how trusted third-party certification can help with the resulting transition.

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Great guidance from the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Highly recommended reading for all NFP Directors, Boards and Management. I think the “Checklist for Smaller NFPs” is a particularly useful resource for smaller not for profits which may not have the resources to invest in Director training and facilitated Board days. Also great to see the Institite recognising the complexities of governing NFPs. #notforprofit #governance #directors #directorsduties

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What is the government going to do to bring excessively high public service remuneration packages into line with community expectations? AND What can the government do to stop excessively overpaid elites lecturing us about disadvantage?

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Today we launched the first MYOB Business Monitor: SME Performance Indicator. This edition is a unique, lead indicator on the health of Australian small businesses (with 1-19 employees). The SME Performance Score is currently at -2.0 relative to GDP, with rising costs and reduced householding spending particularly impacting retail and construction. This information is crucial for small businesses, government and industry, as we work together to support the 2.5 million SMEs across Australia https://lnkd.in/g32jNdi9

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Jumped on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) this afternoon to discuss the LNP’s housing plan, released today. Also, considered points of convergence between the Labor and LNP plans, both in focus this state budget week. Check it out, hopefully it offers some interesting analysis. https://lnkd.in/gPiqp-RE #StateBudget #BudgetReply #Queensland #HomeMatters #BetterTogether

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