Compost Australia employs a National Projects Manager – Recycled Organics with funding assistance from the five mainland state governments. The primary objective of the position is to facilitate implementation of the strategies publicised in the Compost Supply Chain Roadmap so that organics are appropriately processed and used within Australia. Subsidiary objectives of the position include: developing and delivering projects arising from the strategies put forward in the Roadmap; and securing funding for projects that have the broad based support of government and industry.

Current and proposed projects delivered through Compost Australia are listed in the expanding menu to the right of this page. Project briefs, proposals and formal reports are available for download by selecting the project name of interest and then downloading the relevant file. Informal reports on projects are often provided through the Compost Australia E-news.

In order to maximise the opportunities for funding and implement the industry development projects already identified, a number of project management and specialist partners are called upon to support the activities of the National Projects Manager. Project Partners provide the breadth of expertise, knowledge and experience necessary to successfully obtain and use grant funding. It is envisaged that the National Projects Manager will coordinate the efforts of a number of Project Partners working on several well defined projects.

Project Partners are selected through a competitive process prior to preparation of the grant/funding submission. A Project Partner donates their time to develop a grant/funding application(s) and takes a pre-arranged role in delivering the project if the application is successful. This is distinct from a normal consultancy agreement in that Project Partners invest time (and possibly resources) in preparing the applications for funding without certainty of compensation. This means that they share the risk that the project will not proceed.

Project Partners will fill out most of the application while the National Projects Manager will focus on securing key written commitments from industry partners. Prior to submitting any grant/funding application WMAA will sign an agreement with Project Partner defining the rights and responsibilities of both parties should the application be successful.
The advantages of this arrangement are:

• Compost Australia gains access to the expertise and resources needed to prepare quality grant/funding applications at no cost;
• The process is fair and transparent but does not require multiple selection processes or lengthy tender submissions;
• Project Partners have the opportunity to frame the project and then carry it through to completion;
• Project Partners are directly rewarded for good quality applications;
• Project Partners effectively get access to funding sources that they would not normally qualify for.