The Victorian Government is committed to supporting our regional communities to thrive after the end of native timber harvesting.
The Forestry Transition Program includes dedicated support to help communities transition.
Help is available for communities to plan for their future including how they can create different jobs in their area.
The Forestry Transition Fund provides grants up to $1 million for businesses and industry groups - including chambers of commerce and associations, peak bodies and businesses networks - to expand, diversify or start new businesses.
The funding is focused on communities impacted by the native timber transition and supporting actions from Local Development Strategies.
Applicants that directly employ displaced native timber workers will receive a $20,000 wage subsidy per worker in addition to their grant.
Funding is also available to local councils, water corporations and utility providers to make sure there is the right infrastructure in place to support businesses’ applications.
Local Development Strategy grants will make sure that affected communities are well supported through the native timber transition.
Grants of up to $500,000 are available to help 11 communities that are affected by the Forestry Transition Program.
The grants provide support for communities to plan for their future including how they can create different and sustainable jobs in their area.
Allocation of the Local Development Strategy grants is now exhausted.
The $22 million Community Development Fund supports the delivery of early Local Development Strategy outcomes.
The fund allocates financial support to 11 priority Local Development Strategy communities.
Communities that are not eligible for a Local Development Strategy grant or Community Development Fund grant can apply to the Forestry Transition Fund in 2023.
Yarra Ranges, Murrindindi, Benalla, Towong and Gannawarra LGAs
In 2020, the Orbost district in East Gippsland was selected as a pilot for the Local Development Strategy program.
Former Project Manager Tim Cotter worked with the Orbost community to identify the district’s strengths and future opportunities.
Tim returned to his hometown of Orbost local after spending the last 20 years working with regional communities around Australia for the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.
In reflecting on his time back in Orbost, Tim said “I have been blown away with the level of entrepreneurial spirit, can-do attitude and innovative ways of working. Collaboration will be a key ingredient if the region is to prosper and through this project, we are working hard to bring the community together alongside government, education and industry representatives.”
Using the Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) methodology, Tim spent the first six months undertaking a ‘regional context analysis. Conducting interviews and desktop data analysis to understand the current community, business and population characteristics and activities in the Orbost district.
In July 2021, the context analysis report was published and identified that in 2019, the main employment sectors for the Orbost district were agriculture and forestry, education, and health.
The data also showed that in the past decade (as compared with the 1990s), Orbost is best known as an agricultural centre.
Complementing the data, Tim has engaged with more than 300 people from community and businesses, including 150 interviews with local people to understand Orbost’s strengths, assets and aspirations.
Tim reflected that “the interviews with stakeholders have been crucial in shining a light on the underlying substance and diversity which exists in the Orbost district’s economic and natural environment.”
He stated that, “without exception, the community commented on the quality of the natural environment, particularly the rainfall, soils and climate, and the opportunities for more to be done, other than dairy and beef farming. Growing vegetables was seen as a sector where there was considerable potential for value-adding and trying new ways of working.”
Tim’s work resulted in the community collectively deciding on five areas of focus to support the district’s future economy. A national seeds institute, agricultural opportunities, forest management, visitor economy and a P13+ education centre.
The community have been working the five areas of focus through an “Entrepreneurial Discovery Process” - bringing together the community, businesses and experts to flesh out the tangible possibilities and innovations for the Orbost district.
The first step in doing this was hosting a series of “discovery workshops” on each theme.
“We held a number of workshops locally in the community which has resulted in some very clear areas of thinking we want to explore. Currently we have two innovation groups made up of local businesses, community members, government bodies and academic experts to help us get our ideas off the ground.
“The first step for the national seeds institute is to develop a business case to build a dedicated facility and laboratory.”
“We are also in the process of developing detailed specifications for the district’s future forest and fire management needs and what workforce and specialist skills will be needed to support that. In the agriculture space we’re starting to analyse the water needs of the region to support the expansion of the agriculture sector,” Tim said.
Once Future of Orbost and the community have prepared business cases for these initiatives, seed funding will be available through the Forestry Transition Program Community Development Fund to kick start their implementation.
Tim also grew the communities’ skills and capacity to grow the local economy.
“While the local development strategy development has been focussed on following particular process, it has bought about a whole opportunity to increase our local networking opportunities, deliver skills and training masterclasses for businesses in areas like leadership, investing and seeking investment, applying for funding and succession planning,” said Tim.
Tim sees a bright future for Orbost with a lot of opportunity. “If it’s down to the passion and enthusiasm of the people, then we have got a very good chance of seeing a prosperous future for our region. I’m hopeful that with more collaboration between members of the community we will see the region grow and prosper.”
Page last updated: 07/10/24