Applications for the Community Safety Infrastructure Grants are now closed.

On this page

  • Grants overview
  • Application and assessment process
  • Why is the Victorian Government funding these grants?
  • The objectives of the Community Safety Infrastructure Grants include:
  • Who can apply for funding?
  • What will be funded through the program?
  • What will not be funded?
  • What are the economic stimulus requirements?
  • How we will assess your application
  • Supporting your application with evidence
  • Grant management responsibilities
  • Resources
  • Further information

Grants overview

The Community Safety Infrastructure Grants are available to support Victorian communities to improve public safety and increase confidence in public places, as part of the government’s $2.7 billion Building Works package. The program offers grants between $25,000 and $500,000 to Victorian Councils and not-for-profit organisations that own or manage community facilities (including places of worship) to install public safety and security infrastructure. 

Projects are eligible that have an economic stimulus benefit, and that increase community and public safety and security, including:

  • Infrastructure projects that increase the safety and use of community spaces (for example, infrastructure upgrades to community centres, sporting facilities, and parks)
  • Projects to increase the security of community or public spaces, including security upgrades to places of worship, and measures to counter violent extremism such as ‘vehicle-as-a-weapon’ measures (for example, streetscaping or bollards).

Visit the Community Safety Infrastructure Grants page to view fact sheets and other resources.

Up to 20 per cent of the total grant can go towards reasonable design-related and project management costs, as well as complementary activity to strengthen the crime prevention impact of the infrastructure such as community education or place-activation activities.

Co-contributions are strongly encouraged but are not mandatory. You must indicate the economic stimulus benefit associated with the project in your application. 

For further information, visit the Community Safety Infrastructure Grants page.

Applications closed on Friday 17 July 2020.

Late applications cannot be submitted.

Application and assessment process

  1. You must submit your application online via our website.
  2. Applications close 4pm Friday 17 July 2020.
  3. We will assess your application for eligibility and how well it aligns with the program objectives.
  4. We may give your application to representatives from other government agencies and Victoria Police for comment.
  5. The Minister for Crime Prevention will approve projects for funding.
  6. We aim to let you know the outcome of your application within approximately three months of the program closing date, though this may depend on the number of applications we receive.
  7. The Department of Justice and Community Safety (department) will enter into a funding agreement with successful applicants.

Why is the Victorian Government funding these grants?

The Community Safety Infrastructure Grants are part of the government’s $2.7 billion Building Works package aimed at getting thousands of Victorians back to work as a result of the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency.

This one-off funding opportunity is part of the Community Crime Prevention Program and builds on the strength of previous programs such as the Community Safety Fund, the Public Safety Infrastructure Fund and the Graffiti Prevention Grants, while offering greater flexibility in the type of projects that can be funded. 

The program aims to support ‘shovel-ready’ projects that have a primary focus on strengthening public safety and security infrastructure to generate economic benefit in local communities; and help prevent crime and improve perceptions of safety using situational or environmental approaches. 

The objectives of the Community Safety Infrastructure Grants include: 

  • delivering employment opportunities in communities across Victoria and supporting economic recovery
  • increasing community safety and confidence in public places
  • promoting widespread engagement in crime prevention initiatives by involving the community in designing public safety and security infrastructure
  • supporting initiatives that connect the community and build social cohesion
  • testing innovative approaches to crime prevention.

Who can apply for funding?

The Community Safety Infrastructure Grants is open to both Victorian councils and not-for-profit organisations that either own or manage a public place.

For the purposes of these grants, a public place is defined as ‘any place to which the public has access as of right or by invitation, whether express or implied and where no charge is made for admission to the place’. This can include parks or streetscapes as well as community facilities and centres or places of worship. 

The following organisation types are ineligible to apply for a grant but may be engaged to provide professional services or advice for any project:

  • state or federal government departments and agencies, including Victoria Police
  • registered schools, pre-schools, TAFE institutes and universities
  • for-profit businesses
  • unincorporated organisations.

You will not be eligible for funding if you have any late or outstanding reports required for any Community Crime Prevention Program grant such as the Community Safety Fund, Public Safety Infrastructure Fund or Graffiti Prevention Grants.

Please email communitycrimeprevention@justice.vic.gov.au (External link) if you are unsure if your organisation is up to date.

Please note we will only consider one application per organisation under this program.

Information for not-for-profit organisations

You will need to demonstrate that you are a legal entity (for example an incorporated association, incorporated cooperative or Indigenous corporation) and hold a current Australian Business Number (ABN). You will also need to provide either:

  • a copy of the current land title to show you own the property, or
  • a copy of your lease agreement (showing you have leased the premises for at least 5 years) and a letter from the land title owner supporting the installation of infrastructure outlined in your application.

Projects that bring multiple community or cultural groups together in a single application to upgrade security within the local area are strongly encouraged. One organisation will be responsible for submitting the application on behalf of the partnership.

If your organisation wants to partner with other organisations in your local area to apply for funding, the application must clearly identify all partners, the amount of funding going to each partner and what the funding will be used for. 

If the application is successful, that organisation will be responsible for managing the funding agreement with the department and distributing funds to partners as outlined in the application. 

Auspice arrangements are not permitted in this program. 

What will be funded through the program?

Grants of between $25,000 and $500,000 are available to support infrastructure initiatives that respond to clearly identified crime prevention issues and provide economic benefit to the community. 

The program will fund the development of new infrastructure, or the redevelopment of existing infrastructure to help improve community safety, security and confidence in public places. These types of projects are often referred to as situational or environmental crime prevention and seek to reduce opportunities for crime through changing the physical environments in which crimes can occur. This may include:

  • Infrastructure projects that increase the safety and use of community spaces (for example, infrastructure upgrades to community centres, sporting facilities, and parks)
  • Projects to increase the security of community or public spaces, including security upgrades to places of worship, and measures to counter violent extremism such as ‘vehicle-as-a-weapon’ measures (for example, streetscaping or bollards).

You can find further information on effective crime prevention activities on our website and we strongly encourage you to read this information before designing your project and writing your application.

You can request up to 20 per cent of the grant to undertake complementary activities that increase the effectiveness of this infrastructure. This could include but is not limited to:

  • Engaging a registered security advisor to prepare written plans with procedures on how to deal with security related emergencies at a place of worship or community facility, and to train community members to effectively implement these procedures
  • Reasonable community consultation costs to better understand poor perceptions of safety in an area and inform the design of public safety infrastructure
  • Engaging a consultant to advise on place-making approaches to encourage community ownership and use of public places; or to advise on an approach that applies Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles
  • Graffiti prevention activity such as local ‘adopt a place’ initiatives or the use of public art to deter graffiti vandalism and attract visitors
  • Reasonable design costs, however these may impact on the assessment of whether your project provides value for money if design costs are high.
  • Maintenance costs associated with the infrastructure should not be included in the grant amount requested but may form part of your contribution to the project.

Program objectives

The Community Safety Infrastructure Grants program is seeking applications that aim to achieve the program’s objectives. These are outlined in the following pages. The more of these objectives your application addresses, the stronger your chance is of being approved for funding.

Objective 1: Delivering employment opportunities in communities across Victoria and supporting economic recovery

It is expected that you will prioritise local businesses when procuring goods and services to deliver your project. In addition, applications that seek to engage the types of businesses and social enterprises covered by the government’s Social Procurement Framework will be prioritised.

Councils that are approved for funding through the program should include the requirement in tender specifications for contractors to find new employees through the Working for Victoria program where possible to maximise opportunities for Victorians who have lost employment as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency. See ‘What are the economic stimulus requirements?’ section below for more information.

Projects that aim to provide longer-term, sustained economic benefits to the local community will be prioritised for funding. 

Example:

  • A safety and amenity upgrade to a local commercial strip seeks to attract businesses and therefore employment to a local area. The project is supported by council’s business grants program to enable local traders to apply for funds to improve the façade of their business and install under-awning lighting using local tradespeople. The local employment hub runs a free training session for traders on visual merchandising and the Neighbourhood Watch group works with council to use some of the grant funds to run an awareness campaign on preventing burglary and shoplifting. All printed materials for the project are produced by a social enterprise that provides employment opportunities for long-term unemployed young people.

Objective 2: Increasing community safety and confidence in public places

Your project must seek to address an identified crime or perception of safety issue in a local community or address a demonstrated security issue at a community facility or place of worship. The information you can provide to demonstrate the need for your project is outlined later in this document.

Examples:

  • A council has commissioned a security audit of a local park that is regularly used for events and a farmers’ market following complaints from community members and stall holders. The audit identified a lack of delineation between vehicle and pedestrian zones and the site is vulnerable to vehicle-based attacks. The council uses the security audit, community complaints, and the results of a survey of park users as supporting evidence to apply for funds. The project seeks to redesign the carpark and install bollards and street furniture to better identify pedestrian-only zones and deter vehicle-based attacks.
  • A place of worship has been the target of frequent, offensive graffiti. Funding is sought for a professional artist to work with members of the faith congregation and the broader community to design and paint a mural on the wall to deter further vandalism.

Objective 3: Involving the community in designing public safety and security infrastructure

Projects that are designed with community members are more likely to respond to their concerns and deliver better outcomes. Applications that demonstrate that consultation with the community has helped to shape the project or that will provide meaningful opportunities for the community to be involved in the design of the infrastructure will be prioritised for funding. 

Examples:

  • A street mall has increasing incidents of antisocial behaviour and petty crime leading to poor perceptions of safety and decreasing patronage. Funding is sought for a community co-designed project that addresses the physical and social environment, ensuring all who want to use the space can do so safely.
  • A council consults young women to identify factors that impact on perceptions of safety in a local park and then uses the feedback and ideas obtained to design a project for funding.

Objective 4: Connecting the community and building social cohesion

You should maximise the benefit of the infrastructure investment by encouraging use of the public place or facility by different members or groups of the community. Projects that focus on bringing the community together, particularly different cultural or religious groups that don’t often get the opportunity to mix will be prioritised for funding. 

Examples:

  • A local community organisation establishes an ‘adopt-a-place’ initiative bringing together a number of cultural groups to work together to remove graffiti, paint a mural and maintain an unloved section of the local reserve.
  • Local sporting groups come together as a partnership to apply for funds to increase the security of the facilities they manage in a local park and work together to encourage young people from different cultural groups to try out the sports they offer.

Objective 5: Being innovative

Projects that test new approaches to improving community safety and security or build new partnerships.

Examples:

  • An organisation seeks funding for an artistic lighting installation that activates a problem space. Local artists and technicians collaborate with community to utilise lighting technology in ways that are responsive to the safety perceptions of local users of the space.
  • A council wants to activate an under-used local reserve to address a problem with anti-social behaviour. It applies for a grant to install a vandal-resistant electrical supply to the reserve that is available for a regular rotation of food-trucks, buskers and musicians. Seating and lighting are also installed to support an outdoor dining and entertainment destination for the community.

What will not be funded?

The following applications are ineligible and will not be funded:

  • ongoing costs such as private security guards
  • applications that seek funds for costs that are not community crime prevention focused such as road/traffic safety, water safety, fire safety, child safety, Occupational Health and Safety or general maintenance or upgrade/renovation costs that do not improve security
  • activities that are the primary focus or responsibility of other government programs
  • applications for Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) maintenance or monitoring (noting only Victorian councils can make applications for CCTV infrastructure)
  • applications for security infrastructure for buildings that do not currently exist, or that require other major works to be completed first
  • applications that seek retrospective funding for projects which have already commenced
  • applications for less than $25,000
  • applications requesting more than $500,000
  • projects that cannot be completed by 1 November 2022.

What are the economic stimulus requirements?

Grant funds should be used to support economic recovery in your community by choosing local suppliers, contractors and businesses first. Where this is not possible, preference should be given to Victorian or Australian companies. In addition, applications that seek to engage the types of businesses and social enterprises covered by the government’s Social Procurement Framework will be prioritised.

Read more about the Social Procurement Framework (External link)

All tenderers for projects funded by this grant program will be required to find new employees through Working for Victoria in the first instance. Councils that are approved for funding through the CSIG program must include this requirement in tender specifications. 

The Victorian Government established the Working for Victoria initiative to help the community and contribute to Victoria’s ability to respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The initiative supports jobseekers to find work and access online training, and helps employers to find workers fast, with the skills and experience they need.

We also ask that you consider ways to include your local community in the design and delivery of your project to achieve sustainable benefits that are broadly supported by the community. You should consider how your project can assist the community to use public spaces and facilities safely, this includes considering social distancing requirements in the design of public spaces. 

However, this grant program is not intended to primarily resource the redesign of public spaces to meet social distancing requirements. Your project must focus on addressing and preventing a clearly identified crime or perception of safety issue.

How we will assess your application

Your application should clearly outline what your project will do and deliver and apply a problem-solving approach that clearly links the problem and the solution. 

Your application will be assessed based on how many of the program objectives your project seeks to address and how strongly the objective is supported.

You should provide supporting information where possible to help us to understand your project idea. The level and quality of supporting information you provide will contribute to the overall quality of your application and increase your chance of success. See the section on 
page 15 for more information on the type of evidence you can provide to support your application. 

We will also consider the following questions when assessing your application: 

  • Is the project ready to start as soon as possible after funding is confirmed?
  • Does your application demonstrate a clear project management approach and show you can realistically complete the project by 1 November 2022?
  • Does the application provide value for money?

The department will aim to create a spread of investment across Victoria including in both metropolitan and regional areas through the program. 

Supporting your application with evidence

The evidence you should provide with your application depends on the type of project you propose but you should aim to provide clear information on how your project will address the program objectives and why you think your project will be successful. You should also aim to support your application with information that demonstrates the need for investment and that your project is ready to go if you are approved for funding. Some examples of possible evidence are listed below.

For community facilities and places of worship:

  • police reports following a break-in at a community facility or place of worship
  • a security audit to show that the infrastructure you propose will help to improve security at the facility
  • letters of support from the community
  • information on how your facility is used and how many people use it each week.

For councils seeking investment in public safety infrastructure:

  • community safety audits, such as Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) audits
  • feasibility studies or consultancy reports
  • council information (for example, the number of complaints about a particular issue, work logs or maintenance records).

For all applicants:

  • plans and diagrams showing the infrastructure you plan to install and where it will be located
  • detailed cost estimates or quotes from local or Victorian businesses
  • a detailed project plan showing you can complete the project by 1 November 2022
  • survey or community engagement results
  • local demographic information
  • photographs of the project site
  • information from Victoria Police and the Crime Statistics Agency
  • Evidence that you have applied for or obtained any permits or licenses required.

Further guidance on obtaining information from Victoria Police and the Crime Statistics Agency to support your application is available on the Community Safety Infrastructure Grants page.

Security audits must be undertaken by Victoria Police or a registered security adviser.

Grant management responsibilities

Funding agreement

If your project is approved for funding, we will prepare a funding agreement based on the Standard Form of the Victorian Common Funding Agreement (VCFA). The agreement will include two parts. Part A outlines project-specific obligations for funding and reporting requirements, and will be based on the information in your application, any additional information we asked for, and any amendments we agreed. Part B is a set of standard terms and conditions that apply to all government grant funded projects. 

Information on the VCFA is available from: vic.gov.au/victorian-common-funding-agreement

Grant recipient responsibilities

Grant recipients will be responsible for:

  • entering into a funding agreement with the department within no more than four weeks of the date of the funding offer. You must comply with all requirements of the funding agreement
  • ensuring appropriate arrangements are in place to sustain the project and its outcomes
  • ensuring the project adheres to all Occupational Health and Safety regulations and other applicable laws
  • letting us know if anything happens that might change your project or the way it is delivered before any changes are made.

Evaluation and reporting

Although you will not be required to submit a formal evaluation of your project to the department, it is expected that grant recipients will review projects to determine whether the program objectives have been met and identify any learnings for future projects. However, formal evaluation is encouraged if possible. If you would like to formally evaluate your project, your application can include reasonable evaluation related costs within the percentage of grant funding available for non-infrastructure activity. 

Your funding agreement will outline the reporting requirements of the grant. You will need to submit a final report that: 

  • demonstrates that you completed the project outlined in your application
  • describes what your project did and how it achieved the objectives of the program, particularly with regards to supporting local economic recovery and improving community safety
  • provide a detailed statement of income and expenditure (you will be asked to provide evidence of expenditure such as receipts or tax invoices).

You will not be asked to provide an audited financial statement with your final report and you should not include related costs against the grant funding you request

Resources

Additional resources that may assist you in applying for a grant are available on our website.

These include:

  • Frequently Asked Questions 
  • Featured projects/case studies
  • Information on engaging Victoria Police and the Crime Statistics Agency
  • Factsheets on a range of topics including: fencing, lighting, alarms, using public art and murals, CCTV, engaging a security contractor, vehicle-as-a-weapon measures, placemaking and gender-sensitive design.

Further information

If you have any questions after reading the resources, you can email the department at communitycrimeprevention@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

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Author
Community Crime Prevention Program
Publisher
Department of Justice and Community Safety
Copyright
State of Victoria, 2020
Date of Publication

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