Council Grant Program - Property Level Flood Information Portals

The Queensland Reconstruction Authority administers funding under this program.

The Property Level Flood Information Portals (the Portals) initiative has been allocated $10 million from the DRFA funded $741 million Resilient Homes Fund (RHF). This comprises $9.8 million for the delivery of local council portals (administered by QRA) and $200,000 to update the State-administered FloodCheck portal (to be delivered by the Department of Resources).

The Program will deliver a QRA led portal solution that will be delivered as a Software as a Service (SaaS) (hosted and managed through the supplier’s cloud platform similar to the Guardian disaster dashboards) and will be available for all eligible Councils.

Up to $250,000 will be made available to eligible councils, who do not wish to opt-in to the QRA led portals solution for the development of new, and enhancement of existing, local government portals. New portal systems will only be considered eligible where they are required to support and/or integrate with existing council systems (and where the QRA led solution will not do this). Any non-QRA-solution is also required to be compatible with the QRA solution from a data sharing perspective.

Funding is available for the thirty-nine (39) local government areas (LGAs) activated the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements 2018 (DRFA) in response to the following 2021-2022 disaster events:

• Central, Southern and Western Queensland Rainfall and Flooding, 10 November – 3 December 2021
• Ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth, 29 December 2021 – 10 January 2022
• South East Queensland Rainfall and Flooding, 22 February – 5 April 2022
• Southern Queensland Flooding, 6 May – 20 May 2022

For updates to the activation listings refer to QRA’s activation website at: https://www.qra.qld.gov.au/disaster-funding-activations/activations   

• Balonne Shire Council
• Banana Shire Council    
• Barcaldine Regional    
• Barcoo Shire Council    
• Blackall-Tambo Regional Council   
• Boulia Shire Council    
• Brisbane City Council   
• Bundaberg Regional Council    
• Carpentaria Sire Council    
• Central Highlands Regional Council    
• Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council   
• City of Gold Coast    
• Diamantina Shire Council    
• Flinders Shire Council    
• Fraser Coast Regional Council   
• Gladstone Regional Council    
• Goondiwindi Regional Council    
•  Gympie Regional Council    
• Ipswich City Council    
• Isaac Regional Council    
• Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire Council    
• Livingstone Shire Council     
• Lockyer Valley Regional Council    
• Logan City Council    
• Longreach Regional Council    
• Maranoa regional Council   
• Moreton Bay Regional Council
• Murweh Shire Council
• Noosa Shire Council
• North Burnett Regional Council
• Redland City Council
• Rockhampton Regional Council
• Scenic Rim Regional Council
• Somerset Regional Council
• South Burnett Regional Council
• Southern Downs Regional Council
• Sunshine Coast Regional Council
• Toowoomba Regional Council
• Western Downs Regional Council

Key documents include:

1. Property Level Flood Information Portals Guideline
2. Property Level Flood Information Portals Application Form

Application for funding will be undertaken by eligible applicants using the form provided. Each applicant is to submit a single form, containing the project they wish to submit for consideration.

Following the close of the applications, the QRA will assess the proposed project against the guidelines to ensure all activities and associated deliverables are eligible and achieve program outcomes. The QRA will then administer grants to successful applicants.

Applications close 31 March 2024.

Applicants can apply using the Property Level Flood Information Portals Application Form available at: 
https://www.qra.qld.gov.au/resilient-homes-fund. 

Completed applications are to be submitted via email to submissions@qra.qld.gov.au.  

Projects are limited to the for the development of new, and enhancement of existing, local government portals. New portal systems will only be considered eligible where they are required to support and/or integrate with existing council systems (and where the QRA led solution will not do this). Any non-QRA-solution is also required to be compatible with the QRA solution from a data sharing perspective.

The following activities are considered eligible activities in accordance with the Resilient Homes Fund Joint (Commonwealth and Queensland governments) Guidelines:

• scoping of requirements 
• solution design and development
• licensing, implementation and integration.

No. The property level flood information portals initiative creates the functionality for councils to host, populate and publish property level flood information only. Any work required to create the data which is displayed in the portal is not eligible under this program. 

Up to $250,000 in grant funding will be made available to eligible councils, who do not wish to opt-in to the QRA led portals solution. for the development and delivery of projects that meet eligibility requirements.

No. As the intention of this program is to support new or upgraded property specific flood information systems, the full scope of eligible work should be included in a single project application. 

Project details are required to align with the Property Level Flood Information Portals Guideline .

Any activities and subsequent deliverables carried out under this initiative are required to align with the program’s objective of raising community awareness, and should align where possible with QRA-led solution for consistency across the state.

Where possible, the elements requiring alignment will be advised prior to applications being made, and may also be negotiated prior to approval to ensure program eligibility requirements are met.

Councils must also accept all ongoing costs for operation and maintenance of the portal solution (e.g. annual software licencing/subscription, software support, future upgrades etc.).

No. When claiming reimbursement of expenditure, the amount to be lodged must be the GST exclusive actual cost incurred. Depending on an applicant’s GST status, QRA may gross up the grant amount to include GST. 

No. There is no fixed or minimum co-contribution. 

The current DRFA funding requires projects to be completed by 30 June 2026.

Progress reports are required monthly throughout the delivery period until project completion. All reporting requirements are set out in the Project Funding Schedule/Agreement for successful projects. 

Successful applicants are responsible for any expenditure over the approved amount. 

Successful applicants need to ensure outcomes are achieved as per the approved scope. Where a project does not deliver all the approved outcomes, then the project funding may be reduced based on the undelivered scope. 

Unspent funds will be returned to the program and may be reallocated to other projects. 

The QRA CEO provides final project approval. QRA may consult with relevant agencies and/or partners for review and/or endorsement of projects.

Applicants notified of funding approval no later than 31 May 2024.

The QRA have dedicated resources available to support councils limited by capacity or capability to identify suitable projects for assessment under this program. 

Please contact floodteam@qra.qld.gov.au if in need of support or have any questions on the program.