Quick Response Grants open 1 July to support local ideas – fast!

Published on 25 June 2026

Got a great idea that just needs a small boost to get off the ground? Surf Coast Shire Council’s Quick Response Grants open 1 July and stay open until all funding is allocated.

These grants are all about backing local projects that pop up throughout the year - things that are time-sensitive, practical, and make a real difference in the community. That could be a local event, a small piece of equipment, a pilot program, or a project that responds to a new or emerging need.

Grants of up to $3,000 are available, with no funding contribution from the applicant required in this grant stream.

Cr Mike Bodsworth urged local groups to get in quickly with their project ideas.

“Our shire is full of passionate, caring people with great ideas that will have a truly positive impact on our community and environment, and these grants help turn simple but powerful ideas into action.”

“Because the grants are assessed as applications come in, there’s no long wait for funding rounds, just a straightforward process until the budget is spent,” he said.

Torquay College received a Quick Response Grant last year to get its Surf Coast Secrets Bush Blitz program off the ground. The funding supported equipment such as butterfly nets, magnifiers, binoculars and seedlings.

The school’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) coordinator Tracey Vaught came up with the idea based on an Earth Watch experience she took part in.

“I got together a group of year four students with a vested interest in our natural world – kids who are earthy, that like to get outside and get dirty and who are fascinated by what’s around them,” she said.

“We headed out to Distillery Creek in Aireys Inlet, brought analysis equipment and ‘bush blitzed’ the space with environmental testing, including pollinator counts and pH testing of the water. We also went on a hunt and found all sorts of fungi, plants and insects."

The students learned about all the flora and fauna in the space, with some choosing to draw the plants and creatures they’d found.

“It’s amazing how much stuff the children found right beneath their noses that they had no idea was there. They discovered so many itty-bitty creatures. It really fed their curiosity, with many of them going on to teach their families and friends about what they’d discovered,” Tracey said.

“It’s teaching through the eyes of a First Nations perspective, which encourages students to care for Country; the land they walk, learn and play upon.

“The grant opened the door for this. We wouldn’t have been able to afford all the equipment otherwise. Now we have it, we can use it for future bush blitzes – all we need is just footsteps to the next spot,” she said.

Other local projects supported last year include Surf Coast Secondary College’s R U OK? Day merchandise to help promote student wellbeing and Aireys Inlet Community Garden’s wicking beds project to support sustainable food growing.

Eligible applicants include not-for-profit organisations, community groups and local clubs delivering projects within the shire.

Once the allocated funding is used up, the program will close until the next funding cycle.