The Public Health Act does not require any mandatory spending by local government. Therefore the delivery of any public health initiative, project or programs will be at the discretion of the local government, based on the public health needs and expectations of their local community.
There are a range of external grants and funding available to support local government to plan and implement specific projects that help to improve the health of West Australians. These grants are managed by various external agencies detailed below.
Healthway
Healthway (external site) operates under the Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation Act 2016. Healthway’s role defined in the Act, is to “promote and facilitate in Western Australia good health and activities which encourage healthy lifestyles.” Healthway’s role is:
- to fund activities related to the promotion of good health in general with particular emphasis on young people
- to support sporting and arts activities which encourage healthy lifestyles and advance health promotion programmes
- to provide grants to organisations engaged in health promotion programs
- to fund research relevant to health promotion; and
- to evaluate and report on the effectiveness of the performance of the Foundation in achieving health promotion activities.
Local governments are encouraged to check out the Healthway website www.healthway.wa.gov.au (external site) and subscribe to the newsletter.
Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries
The Department of Local Government and Communities (external site) (DLGC) provides one-off grants to community sector organisations and local governments to plan and implement projects, events and initiatives that help to improve the lives of West Australians programs. This includes sporting and recreational grants (external site).
Lotterywest
Applications for a Lotterywest grant (external site) can be made throughout the year. Generally it takes 3 months for applications submitted with all required information to go through the Lotterywest assessment and approval process. The process can take longer for applications which require additional information or further development from what’s been submitted. Please factor in the time needed for assessment and a decision when planning your event or project. There are a range of grant types which can be viewed on the Lotterywest website.
GrantsConnect - Federal government
GrantConnect (external site) provides centralised publication of forecast and current Australian Government grant opportunities and grants awarded.