About the Partnerships Against Pests grants

Agriculture Victoria administers the Partnerships Against Pests grants program to improve the capacity of land managers to manage established weeds and pest animals on their land.

The Partnerships Against Pests grants program was funded by the Victorian Government’s 2022-2023 budget commitment of $500,000 over 2 years to support the delivery of community-led biosecurity programs, and the 2023-24 ‘Backing Victoria’s Producers’ budget initiative of $5 million over 4 years to support community action to manage established weeds and pests.

This grants program aims to ensure that people most affected by the problem of established weeds and pest animals are central in the process of defining the problem and co-creating strategies and new community-based projects to build community capacity and support on-ground action.

Established weeds are generally defined as those listed as regionally controlled or regionally prohibited under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994. Established pest animals are those listed under the Act.

The grants help community groups to deliver workshops, resources and community engagement initiatives, build community capacity, and promote collaboration between neighbours and communities.

Program objectives

Each stream of the Partnerships Against Pests grants program has tailored program objectives and outcomes. The specific objectives and outcomes for your stream should be used to develop your project. Projects must address one or more of the program objectives and outcomes.

There are 5 objectives which apply across all 3 Streams of the grants program, including:

• Capacity building: education activities for best practice management.
• Capability building: training leaders and advocates.
• Strategic planning: developing plans for sustained future action.
• Raising awareness: communication and technological tools, methods and products to boost awareness.
• Partnerships and collaboration: groups work collaboratively and develop initiatives to foster connection with a range of stakeholders, including other community groups, government agencies and Traditional Owners.

To see the specific objectives and outcome for each Stream, please visit the relevant page:

• Stream 1: grants for community pest management groups
• Stream 2: grants for community-based organisations
• Stream 3  grants for Traditional Owners

Funding streams

The Partnerships Against Pests grants program has 3 funding streams targeting different kinds of community groups. Competitive, annual funding rounds are run for Streams 1b and 2. Eligible Traditional Owner groups are invited to submit project proposals for Stream 3 funding.

Stream 1

This stream of the Partnerships Against Pests grants program provides funding to Victoria’s 4 Community Pest Management Groups (CPMGs):

• the Victorian Blackberry Taskforce
• the Victorian Gorse Taskforce
• the Victorian Rabbit Action Network, and
• the Victorian Serrated Tussock Working Party.

These groups lead the way on supporting community-led action for the management of established weeds and rabbits in Victoria. Agriculture Victoria has supported these volunteer-run organisations since the early 2000s to create statewide advocacy groups for blackberry, gorse, rabbits and serrated tussock.

Find out more about Community Pest Management Groups.

Find more information about Stream 1, including details about projects funded in previous rounds of the grants.

Stream 2

This stream of the Partnerships Against Pests grants program provides funding to organisations operating at a regional or local level with an interest in established invasive species management. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Not-for-profit organisations
• Environmental, agricultural, or natural resource management volunteer organisations
• Community service organisations
• Landcare groups and networks.

Eligible groups can apply for funding of between $10,000 and $50,000 to run projects in their communities.

Find more information about Stream 2, including group eligibility and projects funded in previous rounds the Partnerships Against Pests grants program.

Stream 3

This stream of the Partnerships Against Pests grants program provides funding to Registered Aboriginal Parties (RAPs) and Traditional Owner Corporations (TOCs) to support the delivery of established weed and pest animal projects in line with the objectives of the Partnerships Against Pests grants program.

Find more information about Stream 3, successful projects and group eligibility.