Jean Aquinde
Hi Baxter,
Those are really interesting questions! Considering the size and scope of work required for the Dawul Wuru modular hub design, it’s great that your team is looking at funding avenues through different stakeholders.
Typically, government grants are set aside to support communities wanting to build infrastructure like this, and the Aboriginal corporations themselves are expected to submit their application. Through our ‘Engineering on Country’ program, we support our partner communities/Aboriginal corporations by helping them find relevant grant funds and assisting them in submitting a strong application.
EWB does fundraising each year and is sometimes matched by private businesses. As a lean non-profit organisation, we would need more funds to support the extensive construction of the hub. Our funds are channelled towards the core work of our staff. For example, EWB staff can directly work with the communities to conduct water testing for them to use the data to apply for funding. Another example is mobilising probono support with for-profit Engineering firms (usually x number of hours of their staff to do technical design or fieldwork). Imagine if many organisations offered probono support; this would amount to thousands of dollars saved by the Aboriginal corporation in paying a specialist contractor to do this work for them.
We recommend looking at probono support (such as through EWB’s corporate partners like Arup and Aurecon) and government grants to help Dawul Wuru fund the proposed infrastructure.
There have been a couple of occasions where corporate funding programs support infrastructure programs. However, this has been for small amounts, such as constructing a rainwater tank, water fountains at a school, toilet facilities, etc.
I hope you gained a better understanding of our work and the funding options.
Regards,
Jean
Jean Aquinde.
Jean Aquinde.
Jean Aquinde.