Circular Economy Household Education Fund – Round 2: Information bulletin

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This video shows one speaker presenting at the Recycling Victoria Household Education and Behaviour Change Fund Information Session on 8 February 2022.

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Karen Cosson:

Good morning, everybody. We're just waiting another couple of minutes for people to come in. So hello to you all. Another sunny day today. Not too hot, hopefully not humid. Awkward one way conversation at the start. So we'll just wait till 10:02. So it's 10:01 now. And then we'll make us start. Can see more people coming in.

Karen Cosson:

Okay. So it's just gone 10:02. So I can see people coming in rapidly. So I will make a start as more people join. So good morning, everybody. And welcome to you all. And thanks for making the time to come today to the information session on the Recycling Victoria Household Education and Behavior Change Fund in Round 2. I'd like to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the lands upon which we are meeting today and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. I also acknowledge that we live and work on the lands of the world's oldest and most sustainable culture and the deep connection to earth of our first nation's people and the invaluable contributions to our understanding of climate change and the environment.

Karen Cosson:

So I'm Karen Cosson, the campaign stakeholder lead. And today, you're going to hear from Laura Simic, the campaign advisor for the fund, and also from Rayna Mishra, who's the team leader of activation and outreach. And we are in the social impact team, or branch, sorry. And we are going to talk to you. I'll run you through a bit of an overview of the RV policy just quite quickly and how the campaign fits into the policy. Then Laura is going to take you through the fund, all aspects of the fund, the guidelines, the application form and the assessment criteria, as you can see here. And then Rayna will take you through the campaign and show you some of the materials and talk about the council support as well. And then we'll hand over to you for your questions and answers. So you can put your questions into the... There's a Q&A icon up in the top right. So if you open that, you can put your questions in as we go. You don't have to wait until the session.

Karen Cosson:

We would really like it if you put your name and council so that other people are aware where the question's coming from. And also in case it's very specific to your council and we need to get back to you if we don't have time to get to the question today. Now the session is being recorded and it will be put up on the webpage for the fund, if you need to go back and refer to it. And that's also for people that couldn't make it today. And excuse me, then we'll just finish off with a quick summary of the dates and the contacts and links and all that sort of stuff.

Karen Cosson:

So the RV policy, I'm sure you're all very aware of the policy and that the government has invested over half a billion dollars to transform our waste and recycling system in Victoria. And the key thing today for us is that we're talking about the establishment of the new 4-stream waste and recycling service. So that's for food and garden organics, glass, a separate glass collection service, mixed recycling, and also general rubbish. And SV is delivering the education component to support you to deliver to introduce those new services. And together we're all working to achieve these targets, which are to reduce waste generation per capita by 15%, increase overall recovery to 80%, not by 80%, to 80%, half organics to landfill, and also reduce problematic plastics.

Karen Cosson:

And this is what we'll be focusing on today with the grants is the requirement for every household in Victoria to have access to these 4-streams. So that's a glass, separate glass recycling service. Now, councils can choose whether they have a kerbside bin or a drop-off or some other alternative. And the same for food and garden organics, general rubbish, and also mixed recycling. So for the fund, and just noting with FOGO that some councils might already have FOGO, or they might have garden organics, go and move to go, or they might have opt-in services. And under the policy, they'll need to provide those services to all of the community. And the other key thing for statewide consistency, which is what this is all about is making sure that all councils and Alpine resorts across the state have the same coloring system bin lid, or whatever type of bin you've got.

Karen Cosson:

So for the fund, it's very important because you can apply for the funding to use the campaign materials. You must use them. And we also are aware that some councils are staggering their services, so they might do glass now and FOGO later, some are doing 4-streams all at once. So we're aware of all of those options. And you need to decide when the financial support of the grant will be most beneficial to your council or Alpine resort. And the other thing is so you can... The campaign materials will be available for you to use. You don't have to have a grant to use them. They're up there on the campaign asset library. Now the next slide shows the Recycling Victoria campaign program design. So I'm hoping this slide is getting burnt into your brain so that you can quickly think about the RV campaign and know that there's two campaign streams. One is about reforming recycling services, which we've just talked about. And also very importantly, reducing contamination. So the correct behaviors for those services. And then also incorporating into the campaign the drop-off or collection services like e-waste, household chemicals and soft plastics.

Karen Cosson:

And then the other key stream is avoiding and minimising waste, specifically food waste and also single-use plastics. And the campaign is being delivered into... It's got two delivery channels. So SV, we are doing the statewide high level messaging. And so we won't be saying, you are getting a new bin, but we'll be doing... That's up to the councils and Alpine resort to do that local education when you are making those changes or to improve your service. And that's where the fund comes in because when you do, as I said before, introduce those new services, you can use the grant to use the RV campaign materials to embed correct recycling behaviors. So you'll hear more about the campaign later. So that's it from me for now. And I'll pass over to Laura to talk to you about the fund, the main topic of the day. Laura, you're on mute.

Laura Simic:

There's got to be one, right? Thanks, Karen. Good morning, everyone. Thanks so much for joining us today. So I'll be taking you through all the details of the Recycling Victoria Household Education and Behavior Change Fund, which I will refer to here in as the fund. And apologies in advance for some 30 text heavy slides. It is hard to make funding details very creative. So I hope you've all read the fund webpage and the guidelines and all of this is quite familiar. But in case you haven't, I will take you through all the main sections of the guidelines. So the fund is to support the delivery of local campaigns by you, councils and Alpine Resort Management Boards. And to do this, Sustainability Victoria has developed campaign materials to educate and help Victorians to use the new household recycling services correctly, and to ultimately achieve low levels of contamination. So applicants of the fund must use the campaign materials we've developed when either they're introducing the new household recycling services, or if you've already delivered the new 4-stream household recycling services, you'll need to transition to using the campaign materials that we have developed.

Laura Simic:

So just a few important things to note upfront. You can only apply and receive one grant under the fund. So you should consider the most appropriate time to apply depending on whether where you're at with the introduction of your new services. And if you've received a grant in Round 1 of the fund, then I'm sorry, but you can't apply again. The grants are not competitive, all eligible councils and Alpine resorts who apply will receive one grant under the fund. And again, you must use the campaign materials developed by Sustainability Victoria. The fund is not intended to support a 100% of campaign activity. There isn't a mandatory contribution for this grant, but it is reasonable to expect your campaign will have some additional costs beyond the funding that we will provide.

Laura Simic:

So Round 2 opens last week, and this is the second of four planned funding rounds, subject to change. And you will be provided with a three year timeframe for your project under each of the rounds. So for Round 2, all projects must be completed by 30 June 2025. And you should apply in Round 2 if you're introducing new services anytime before June 2024 or around June 2024. So how much money can you expect? Well, for Alpine resorts, it's fairly straightforward, a set amount of $25,000 each. And for councils, you'll receive a base amount of $30,000 plus a variable component, and that's to a maximum of $106,000. So we'll be determining the variable component of funding for councils based on population data, as well as evidence provided in the application form on behavior change challenges in your area. So in terms of population, we're using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on the number of residents and the number in density of residential properties or dwellings. And we'll also ask for these details from you in the application form as well.

Laura Simic:

And then in terms of the behavior change challenges in the application form, we ask you to detail and provide examples of behavior change challenges in your community with recycling. And we'll discuss this in more detail when we go through the application form. But for example, it could be the complexity of the service change that you're introducing or perhaps challenges with seasonal population increases and so on. So yeah, SV will determine the variable component of funding for each council based on the data and your response to those questions in the application form. So now let's look at what will be funded. So again, only activities using the campaign materials that Sustainability Victoria has developed. And also these activities must take place in Victoria and they must be completed within three years. So that's before June 2025 for this round. And a minimum of 60% must be used to advertise the new household recycling services locally. However, we would recommend that would be closer to 80% would be used on advertising just to ensure a really broad reach across the community. And then the remaining 20 to 40% can be used for other activities.

Laura Simic:

So just to explain what we mean by advertising, this would encompass print, radio, direct mail to households and social media. Whereas other activities would encompass printing costs, undertaking monitoring and evaluations. So like bin audits or engagement activities like a stall at the local market. So the details of each of these can be found in the guidelines, of course. So what won't be funded? Again, you can't use the funding for any activities that don't use the campaign materials that we have developed. The funding can't be used on activities already funded by other government grants, maybe such as Sustainability Victoria's council fund or DELWP's Kerbside Reform Support Fund. It can't be used for other project related costs. So maybe things like capital purchases, or maintenance or repairs. And it can't be used for any retrospective project activities because they probably wouldn't be using the campaign materials that we have developed. So yeah, all the details of what will and won't be funded can be found in the guidelines. And if you're unsure whether something can be covered, please email through to our grants enquiries team for an answer.

Laura Simic:

So the guidelines outline the assessment criteria, which is in a what, how, why and who format. But we will be discussing this a little bit more detail when we look at the application form next. And then in terms of due diligence, so a risk-based approach will be used to assess each applicant. So due diligence will cover things like environment, safety and workplace breaches, fair work breaches, insurance, funding history, and conflict of interest. There are a few questions which will cover this in the application form, but we will also be completing checks. And again, all of this is fully detailed in the guidelines. So please review this section before completing your application.

Laura Simic:

So similar to due diligence, all the funding conditions are detailed in the guidelines. I won't be reading out this slide, of course. But as an attempt to summarise in the funding conditions, it outlines that you must agree to participate in a collaborative process to develop the funding agreement and agree to project milestones under the funding agreement. And the milestones will involve submitting a detailed communication and engagement plan and a monitoring and evaluation plan. And then providing regular updates and final reports on these plans. And keeping SV informed if any project changes as well. So again, please review the full details of the conditions in the guidelines before completing your application.

Laura Simic:

And a quick run through of the application steps. So as I've mentioned way too many times already, please review the guidelines, read through the terms and conditions for sustainability funding agreements and the terms of participating in grant programs. Both of these are in the guidelines. And then create an account for SmartyGrants or login if you've already used the system before to start your application. And you'll find a hyperlink to that in the how to apply section in the guidelines. Attend the information session, and you can tick that one off today. So well done. And then lastly, complete and submit your application before midnight on Tuesday, the 15th of March, which is in roughly five weeks time.

Laura Simic:

And just the last thing to wrap up on the guidelines is the key dates for the fund. So as I mentioned, applications opened last Tuesday on the 1st of February and they close on Tuesday, the 15th of March. Today is the information session. We're aiming to notify successful applicants in May. And the funding agreements had to be established within 30 days of that notification of outcome. And then projects should commence after signing the funding agreement and they must commence definitely before 30 June 2024. And they must be completed before 30 June 2025. And of course, these dates are indicative and they may change. But that maps up all the details from the fund guidelines. I know that's a lot of information, but hopefully if you've reviewed them already, it is mostly familiar to you. So now we'll just have a quick look through the fund application form.

Laura Simic:

So the application form has seven sections. The first section includes some instructions and a few questions to check your eligibility before progressing. Section two asks for your details and contacts for the project. And section three asks for project name and the timeline of the project. Section four asks for profile of your council. So that's where you would be providing your population and density and properties data, the details of your current waste and recycling services along with your current contamination participation and engagement dates, if you know them. And then the details of your new household recycling services. So the dates that you're looking to introduce them and what the approach would be, say if it's kerbside or drop-off. And then section five is the assessment criteria. I mentioned briefly earlier, the what, how, why and who. And then section six is the due diligence. So again, covering things like insurance, compliance, conflict of interest. And then there's a checklist under section seven just to ensure that you've covered all of the requirements and a declaration and signature regarding the funding conditions, and then submit. Easy. Love it.

Laura Simic:

Okay. So let's go through the assessment criteria in some more detail, outline each of the sections, and then some tips based on the Round 1 applications. So the first criteria is, what is the project you will be delivering? So here, what we want to know about is the services, your campaign audiences and the behavior change challenges in your community. So it's very important that the summary of your services is clear. It includes all the relevant details in terms of the dates and timeframes and the complexities. And then regarding your campaign audiences, we really want you to think about not just your entire community, but also segments of your community that might need some extra detail and some extra attention or guidance throughout your campaign. And then the behavior change challenge question, which contributes to the variable component of funding that I mentioned earlier. So it's really important to provide any examples or evidence that you might have to substantiate any claims of recycling behavior change challenges in your community in that question.

Laura Simic:

So the next one there is, how will the project be delivered? So we're asking for an outline of the communication and engagement activities that you plan to deliver throughout each phase of your campaign. So the application form has a type of table to complete, which mimics the plan that you'll need to submit under the funding agreement. So I guess the better quality that you put into this section, I guess the easier that your plans will be when you get to that stage. And also under the how, we do ask about how you plan to monitor and evaluate your project. So this is quite an important part because the campaign is not just about information dissemination and education. We're really looking to create a behavior change. So you need to consider how you might measure behavior change and develop a baseline metric, which you can monitor and assess how the activities are performing. And then report on at the end of your campaign, which will show how successful your campaign has been overall.

Laura Simic:

And then the third section there is why. So why have you chosen this approach to deliver your project? So you've told us what you're going to do and how you're going to do it, but here we're looking for really clear rationale for why you've chosen this approach. Really join the link between your service change, the audiences, the channels and activities that you've outlined and explaining why your approach will deliver a really successful behavior change in your community. And then lastly, who will deliver the project. So we want to understand who in your team will be responsible for delivering the project and do they have the capabilities, capacity and experience to do so.

Laura Simic:

So the last thing I'm going to mention, but it's almost the most important is the campaign guide. So we've delivered a how-to guide to help you plan your project and campaign, and it aligns to the application form. So it'll be a really important resource for you as you complete your application and start to plan out your campaign. It covers everything from the background and the development of the Recycling Victoria campaign program. It includes all the key details on the extensive audience research that Sustainability Victoria's done, which might be helpful for you when you're considering your campaign audiences. There's information in there about the campaign materials and the resources, which we will make available to you. And some guidance on how to use them and when to use them. And then also guidance on developing the communication and engagement plan, which as I mentioned, you'll need to outline in the application form. And also guidance on the monitoring and evaluation plan as well, which you'll need to consider for the application form too.

Laura Simic:

So in the campaign guide and throughout the application form, and it will also be within the communication engagement plan that you will develop in the future is these sort of campaign phases. So I just wanted to touch on what we mean by this, and this infographic, I guess outlines the phases and the related timeframes and their focus areas. So this shows what an ideal scenario would look like for your campaign. And we understand due to various timing and changes, this won't be possible for everyone. But ideally, you'd start a preparation phase at least six months before you were to introduce a new service. And then in the pre-transition phase, so maybe about three months before you were to launch, you'd be really engaging your community and providing education on the change. Then as you transition to your new services, you'd be implementing the change, informing the community on the specifics and what they need to do differently.

Laura Simic:

And then in the following three to six months in that post-transition phase, you'll be reviewing the service transition, identifying any opportunities for improvement and optimising your services in the campaign. And then in the ongoing phase, you'd be continuing the successful activities that you've already delivered throughout the campaign and then targeting any areas of the community that might need some additional support. So yeah, the further details on this and the planning process are all in the campaign guide. And we would really encourage you to review the campaign guide before starting your application. But yeah, hopefully when we discuss the phases, or you notice some in the application form, this just provides a little bit of context. Okay. So that's everything on the fund for now. So I'm going to pass to Rayna who will be taking you through the RV campaign and the campaign materials.

Rayna Mishra:

Thanks, Laura. Hello, everyone. My name is Rayna and I'm the Team Leader for Activation and Outreach at Sustainability Victoria. And I'll be taking you through the latest on the RV campaign and the support available for councils. First, I wanted to provide a bit of background on how our campaign has come to be for those who may be new here. We're all aware of the challenges that there is a persistent gap in good intentions and practices. And the global and local challenges to the system have resulted in confusion and mistrust in the system. The changes under the RV policy seek to address these challenges and create significant change across the state. And as we know, each council is different and a one-size-fits-all approach is not suitable. So in response to this problem, we've done extensive research to determine how we can connect with Victorians.

Rayna Mishra:

The program and campaign is not just straightforward information dissemination, as Laura mentions, it's based on proven behavior change models that has been developed through extensive research with behavior change experts, the industry, and councils in works as well. The research insights we've gathered from local government are that simplicity is key. A consistent campaign that can be adapted locally is important as different approaches work for different councils. And that we need to tell the story of why recycling is important and show people doing the right thing. And the content of course needs to be personally relevant as well. From research, the community has told us that 88% of Victorians believe recycling is important, but one in two Victorians had incorrectly recycled an item in the past 12 months. We found that males, those aged 18 to 35 years old and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds have higher levels of incorrect recycling behavior. And that recycling is a low engagement behavior and people aren't necessarily motivated to check their knowledge. We've used these insights to guide our campaign and concept and design interventions and will target these audiences and challenges.

Rayna Mishra:

The solution we've developed is designed to address these problems through an evidence-based insight-led comprehensive campaign. And it'll be modular. So it can be easily adapted to each council's local needs and phased and tailored to specific audiences. If you've attended previous sessions on the RV campaign, you may be aware of the two phases of the campaign. Phase 1 was available for mid-last year. And the campaign materials are currently available on the asset library. Phase 1 was developed from previous SV campaigns, but it won't be available from March 2022 this year. And that's because we're moving to Phase 2 of the campaign, which is the Small Act, Big Impact campaign or the SABI campaign for short. These campaign materials will be available from March and will be useful for councils for years, as you roll out your service changes. So the asset library currently has the Phase 1 campaign materials. And you're welcome to use these if you have immediate priorities, otherwise we encourage you to use the SABI campaign materials from March. And these will be ongoing, consistent campaign materials.

Rayna Mishra:

Here is an overview of the materials we are producing. We'll prioritise campaign materials for the first two campaign phases, as Laura discussed, the pre-transition and transition phases. And they'll be available from March. These will cover FOGO, including just the bin, or with caddy and with caddy and liner, GO to FOGO, glass, glass drop-off and 4-stream services. We have 58 videos covering the introduction of various streams. We also have 159 illustrations to support the rollout of new services. The campaign has been designed to be modular and allow editing to suit your needs. You'll see in them some of the examples that you're able to add your logo, as well as updating accepted items lists and creating assets to reflect your specific contamination issues. A note that everything you'll be seeing is subject to some testing and final approvals as well, which we're going through.

Rayna Mishra:

I'll show you a few draft examples of the creatives that we'll be rolling out. You've of course just seen the different bins in some of the earliest slides there. These are some examples of the individual illustrations that'll be available to use, and I'll show you how they can be used in context as part of the campaign materials as well. This gives you an idea of the range of items recovering with recycling and contamination and problematic items, such as batteries as well. We also have illustrations of various people holding items. Again, as you can see, we've got some classic recycling items, as well as problematic items like aerosols and waste minimisation in bringing a reusable bag. Here, we can see some examples of materials in context and content you might use to introduce a new glass bin. We have the illustration of the new bin. Some illustrations of arms holding items for recycling. The cover of the DL flyer with three bins showing on it. And a GIF that could be used on social media.

Rayna Mishra:

Here, you can see assets for glass drop-off services, including a skip the items for disposal, and example GIF as well for social media. Here, we have some materials for FOGO services. We have illustrations of the bin and a caddy. And I also want to note, we will also provide caddies in the beige and white colors as well. We also have an example of a bin tag, which can be used to reinforce the correct recycling behaviors. And the social media GIF for the new bin. This is an example of a press or print ad to introduce the four bins. And you'll note on this one you've got a spot to add your own URL and the logo. The SV and Vic Gov logos though must be used.

Rayna Mishra:

This is the back page of our draft DL flyer for four bins. Of course, this is completely editable to allow you to fill in the appropriate items or items of concern for your council or community. We'll also be providing advice on each of the different types of materials on the use of the creative, the colors, fonts, et cetera, to ensure consistency if you do edit the materials. Hopefully that gives you a bit of a taste of what to expect to see on the asset library from March. And we'll be providing updates on when materials are live in our EDMs as well. As part of the RV campaign, we've developed a range of ways to support councils to help you deliver your campaign locally. Firstly, the funding which we've covered today. We've also got the campaign asset library, which we've mentioned. It's an online library, which houses all of the resources for the RV campaign. And they also find a copy of the campaign guide, some templates for planning your campaign as well.

Rayna Mishra:

Next we have the campaign labs. So throughout 2021, we held a series of seven online workshops for council offices to learn about planning and delivering campaigns in local communities. Across the seven workshops, we have presentations from 15 different experts. And those recordings are available on the campaign asset library as well. And lastly, we're holding ongoing forums, which provide opportunity for us to provide updates on the campaigns, the campaign materials, and for councils to share information and learn from each other. The ongoing forums have three main groups. Firstly, councils introducing new services late last year and early this year. They've already been meeting monthly. And on the 20th of January, we had our first meeting for councils introducing services this calendar year, and these will continue monthly. And we'll also continue holding meetings to update all councils as we launch new statewide campaigns and providing updates on the fund like today. Please reach out to us if you'd like to be part of these meetings and don't have an invite as yet, and also if you'd like to receive our EDM newsletter as well.

Rayna Mishra:

We'll provide some links for you to reach out to us at the end. And just to wrap up on the campaigns and council support. This slide show is what to expect over the next six months. From Sunday, we're launching a campaign on remember your reusable bags. You can find some of those materials on our asset library currently. We've noted SABI campaign materials will be available from March. SV will introduce the Small Act, Big Impact, SABI statewide campaign from late April. And potentially a campaign on battery contamination towards the middle of the year. And in terms of direct council support, we have the fund of course, and also the monthly forums. And of course, you can reach out to us at any time in between these as well. That's it from me. Thank you. Back to you, Laura.

Laura Simic:

Great. Thanks, Rayna. So I think Karen is going to host our Q&A session. We can see that we've got a couple of good questions coming through already. So thank you very much. As the slide shows, the little icon with the question mark there along the top is where you head to, to drop a question in. And we will try and answer them all now. So Karen, if you want to kick us off with the first.

Karen Cosson:

Okay. Thanks, Laura. So there's a question here that, can we start using the assets even if we decided to not apply for a grant now? So yes, as Rayna mentioned, the campaign asset library has all of the materials for the recycling services, but also the campaigns that we're running. So please use them. We'd love you to use them. And yeah, you can use them without a grant. So then another question about the specifics about the fund. So can project management be funded?

Laura Simic:

Yes, it could be funded in certain circumstances under that say 20 to 40%, but it would have to be a... When you say project management, I'm assuming you mean like a resource, a person to undertake the project management. Yeah, you'd need to explain to us how that person was being funded under that amount and that their sole purpose would be for the project management aspects. But yes, that could be considered. Yeah.

Karen Cosson:

Great. Thanks, Laura. And then there's one here asking about when the next round, after also when would round three commence.

Laura Simic:

Yeah. So Round 3 will likely be early next year, and same as Round 4, early the year after. But yeah, of course, subject to change, but that's the plan at this stage.

Karen Cosson:

Thanks, Laura. And then another one from Sue, does this mean that projects... But I think this one came through, Laura, when you were talking about not being able to apply from multiple grants programs for the same thing. Does this mean that projects funded by transition plan funding can't be funded, or is it just the specific activities that the transition plan dollars used that can't be funded?

Laura Simic:

Yeah. Thanks, Karen. Exactly what you just mentioned. So it would only be if one of those other funds had a component that was campaign materials or for campaign funding or valuation funding. So it's more just about the specific activities. Of course, you can definitely get funding for the infrastructure under the kerbside transition fund, and then get the funding from us for the actual campaign activities, just not doubling up.

Karen Cosson:

Great. Thanks, Laura. And here's another one about the fund. Some accounts, Ram, is not intending to start a new service until 2024, can we use this fund to reduce the level of contamination in our current recyclable bin?

Laura Simic:

Yeah. That could be possible, but we would encourage you to use the funding as you introduce a new service, just because we know that has such a high impact on the community. And if you are doing this in 2024, then you would most likely still be eligible under Round 2 because you can be having your project running all the way through to mid 2025. But do reach out to us, Ram. We're happy to have a chat to you directly and confirm your specific circumstances.

Karen Cosson:

Great. Thanks, Laura. Now I'll move on to some campaign questions that Rayna I think will be able to answer. Can we use campaign assets during a trial? And can we then transition to our own branding or design work that is consistent with our own communications? That's from Rose.

Rayna Mishra:

That would be depending on whether you're using the fund or not, Rose. So if you mean a trial, you're welcome to use the campaign materials from whenever they're available. If you are a fund recipient and you're using the money from the fund to advertise, then you must use the SV campaign materials. Ideally, we'd like everyone to use our campaign material so we have that consistent campaign across the state as all councils roll out. But if you're not using the fund material too, you're absolutely not beholden to that.

Karen Cosson:

Great. Thanks, Rayna. And there's another-

Rayna Mishra:

Sorry, Karen. I also just want to add. If there are materials that you don't find on the asset library, but you found you really want to use or have used, have been really effective in your community before, please let us know and we can put that on our list of materials to produce as well if there's something that we're missing.

Karen Cosson:

Very good point. Yes, we love feedback. So if something's not quite right or missing, yes, please get in touch with me. I've just published one from Natasha. Will specialists be used to put together CALD, culturally and linguistically diverse materials as these are often left until later in planning? So she's very keen to have answers upfront.

Rayna Mishra:

Yes, we are definitely using a specialist multicultural agency currently and working on not just translating, but trans-creating some of those materials. So as we know, our straight translation might not actually come across the messaging that we're actually trying to put out. So it is going to be a bit of a process. I can't promise you, we're going to have translated and trans-created messages as soon as we launch all of the other materials, but it is definitely something we're working on. And we have eight key languages that we're going to be using in the first instance.

Karen Cosson:

And those languages, Rayna, are they similar to the ones we're currently using in our advertising?

Rayna Mishra:

Yeah, that's right in what we've used previously.

Karen Cosson:

Okay. Now Stacy from Port Phillip and Sue have questions that are quite similar. So they're about the sort of, I'm not saying the branding, but about the look and feel of the campaign materials. Are things like font and bin names able to be altered based on council branding? So we'll go with that one first, Rayna.

Rayna Mishra:

I believe we do have a preferred font to use across the campaign materials. In terms of bin names, that's a great question. We're actually still looking into that one. We know that there's preferred bin names across different councils. And I believe this may even be something that's being discussed as part of the standard bin contents less work as well. Unfortunately, I don't have a straight answer for you as yet. Watch the space and we'll keep you posted.

Karen Cosson:

Great. Thank you. And then Sue has asked, as well as the campaign materials that councils and Alpine resorts can use, are we able to supplement these with those that a council already has used elsewhere for rollout? So I think the question is saying, trying to keep some council consistency and have parallel campaigns.

Rayna Mishra:

Again, if you are using the fund materials, then you can't be running essentially with this two campaigns at the same time. So you would just be using the SV campaign materials. And as I mentioned, if there's something though that we haven't covered that you want to be talking about, please let us know. So we know that there's materials that we need to create that can be used for everybody. Ideally again, we wouldn't be running two campaigns at the same time and keep that one campaign going. But if you aren't using our grant money, then you're more than welcome to be using other materials as well.

Karen Cosson:

Thanks, Rayna. And then this one, I'm interested in... This is not me. This is the question. I'm interested in the request for strong baseline metrics to measure behavior change against. It sounds like there will be monitoring and evaluation resources on the campaign asset library. Will SV be providing any recommended indicators to link into statewide monitoring work happening under RV? That's from Nina at Darwin. Sorry, I should have published that and then read it. So Laura might have something to say first.

Laura Simic:

Yeah. Thanks, Nina. Absolutely. So the campaign guide has guidance on the monitoring and evaluation activities and the different metrics that we would be suggesting to monitor behavior change, measure behavior change over the life of your campaign, and also the monitoring and evaluation plan, which is one of the templates required under the funding agreement when you get to that stage of the fund. That also has a lot of guidance and we're here to help and support you to develop those plans as well. So yes, SV will be providing support and it will be in alignment to the statewide campaign as well.

Karen Cosson:

Great. Thanks, Laura. Rayna, did you want to add anything to that? No. We haven't got Luke here today who's in charge of the extensive monitoring and evaluation plan for the campaign. Now the next one, I shall publish. So can you use the campaign assets and the fund to launch glass only? And then do you need to used to redo the materials already in use? That's from Michelle.

Laura Simic:

Absolutely, you can use the campaign materials just to launch glass. Absolutely. So all the campaign materials are designed in a modular way, so that if you just wanted to focus on the glass element within the campaign materials, and I guess not the other service streams, then that's absolutely possible. Yes. Sorry, Karen, it looks like you're on mute.

Karen Cosson:

Yeah, I was. I'm pressing my unmute button. It wasn't working. So yeah, use the campaign assets with or without the grant, but definitely using them with the grant. Now there's another question here, which was a comment that the bigger glass container is not an image of a skip, but of a bin, a 660 liter or 1000 liter. And that's a very good point because we're currently working with the councils who are introducing glass in this financial year, been meeting with them since last year. And we do know that with drop-off, it's easy with the kerbside bin. They all look the same, but they might be a different size. But with skips, there's all sorts of different types of skips. So we're trying to produce materials that can be used for the drop-off. And then councils, if with the grant, for example, you could get an image of your particular skip and include in now. So you don't need to use the incorrect bin if it's not yours. That's what I'm trying to say. Rayna, is there anything else you wanted to add to that? No.

Rayna Mishra:

No, I think that's fine.

Karen Cosson:

Cool. And then the next one is from Rose at Stonnington. Can funding be used for a trial area introduction only with in-house targeted material for the citywide rollout?

Laura Simic:

I'll jump in and say no. Even if you can absolutely use the funding to do a trial in your community, but it would still have to use the campaign materials that we've developed. You couldn't use in-house campaign materials and use the funding as well.

Karen Cosson:

When it said in-house, I was thinking about that you wanted to go into people's homes and provide them very targeted support about how to use the recycling correctly. But no, that was about council stuff. I think that's the end of the questions. There is another comment in there about CALD. And we are using a specialist agency called LOTE Agency. So they've done our work and they're doing research for us. Everyone can be reassured that we're using specialists who are well credentialed and well respected in the field. So are there any other questions that spring to mind?

Laura Simic:

Well, just got a couple of last slides to wrap up. So I shall go through those. And if anyone thinks of any other questions, we can cover them off right at the end. I had a feeling we wouldn't go for the full hour and a half, so I'm glad I can give everyone back some time in their day. But you never know whether people would be asking more questions or not. So, okay. So just a few key points to take away. Please do apply in Round 2 if you're introducing new services either before June 2024, or just towards the middle of June 2024. Or especially if you have already achieved 4-stream services, you're still very much eligible and you can run a campaign to say target a particular contamination, potentially using the campaign materials. So yeah, that next point there again, you must use the campaign materials developed by SV to be eligible for the funding.

Laura Simic:

And the campaign guide will definitely be very helpful in completing your application form as well as just general campaign development. So please do check out that resource on the asset library. And the Small Acts makes a Big Impact campaign materials will be available from March onwards and they will be available on the asset library, as Rayna mentioned. So just wrapping up the key dates there again. Applications open on the 1st of February and they will be closing on the 15th of March. It will be a hard close date. Unfortunately, we can't provide any extensions beyond this date just to ensure that we can get all the assessments sorted and the funding agreements commenced as soon as possible for some of those councils that may be introducing services quite soon and need that support quite soon. So ideally, don't leave it to the last minute. Get your applications drafted and submit it early.

Laura Simic:

And yeah, we are hoping to notify those successful applicants in May with funding agreements established within 30 days of that. And projects should commence straight after the funding agreement or definitely before 30 June 2024. And then they must be completed by 30 June 2025. And of course, these dates are subject to change. So the key contacts there. I've popped in those emails. And we will pop in the links in a second into the chat there as well. You might be able to select them directly from this slide, hopefully if your Teams has that functionality. And as Rayna mentioned about the upcoming council support and the meetings, we are meeting with each I guess, but by service stream for councils introducing, especially over the next 12 months using the campaign materials. So we've already got meetings set up for across February. If you're interested in attending one or several of those sessions, don't hesitate to email us there at campaigns@sustainability.vic.gov.au. And yeah, any questions about the fund or the application form, they need to be directed through to the grants enquiries, Grants.Enquiries@sustainability.vic.gov.au.

Laura Simic:

And then we'll also have all council sort of Small Act, Big Impact council campaign materials meeting. And that'll be early March as those campaign materials become live. But just having a quick look, if there was any more questions.

Karen Cosson:

There was a question, Laura, and it was, will you send us a copy of today's presentation slides, which-

Laura Simic:

Good question. Yeah, so the recording will be available on the fund webpage. So obviously you can see the slides up through there. Hopefully that will be up within the week or the next few days. We'll probably send it out and email in the next campaign update as well. And if you don't get those monthly, then again, you can email through to the campaigns@sustainability.vic.gov.au to sign up for those. Yeah.

Karen Cosson:

Great. Thank you. And then there's also... Just want to highlight to everyone. There was a question early on from Sue about... Sue and I had a meeting yesterday. So people who home compost and then get a FOGO, in your home composting, you can't... Well, I used to have a worm farm when I lived in a house. You can't put garlic and onion and the citrus and bones and all that sort of stuff. So Sue was saying, are there any images of those items that home composters would need to be prompted to think: Oh, the new FOGO bin, I can still home compost, but I can put the other things I can't put into the home compost bin into the FOGO bin like meat, fish and chicken.

Karen Cosson:

So, yes. And Rayna said there are individual drawings of those type of things. So I think that's answered. I've had an email from someone who I'm not sure if they're here today, but they're asking, are there any councils who've used the SV campaign materials who've kept their own branding too? So Rayna showed the materials that you can put your logo into, the SV campaign materials. And I think we've addressed this. But Rayna, do you just want to reiterate that as well?

Rayna Mishra:

Yeah, sure. So we will be providing materials that just have a blank space, as you saw before, where you can insert your own council logo. We won't be allowing co-branding like two taglines if you have another campaign, I guess that you've used before. Because again, we want to stick with the one message, the one sort of Small Act, Big Impact and not muddy the waters too much. But you will be able to put your logo definitely on those materials and we'll provide you with a spot to do that.

Karen Cosson:

So I think that's very good to think about in terms of when you apply for the grant as well. And when I talk to people around the state to councils and Alpine resorts and the works, otherwise from resource recovery group offices, if we think about a map of Victoria with every council on that map, then over time each of those councils and Alpine resort would start chain... There'll be some that are already green for FOGO and then there are some with purple. But as we go in the next few years, there'll be more green and more purple and councils using the statewide resources. So the messaging.

Karen Cosson:

So then that will pull the community along with us because we all have friends and family that live in different municipalities and they talk to us about: Oh, I've got a new glass bin or a new FOGO or whatever it might be, and someone else might not have it. So there'll be a whole lot of word of mouth, family, friends, priming going on. And so in terms of choosing when to move to the statewide consistency, they're the sorts of things to be thinking about. It's like when will the pool be the greatest to join in the statewide campaign? Because this is very different from anything we've done before because most of the government campaigns are time limited, but this will be ongoing for many years to come, which is fantastic.

Karen Cosson:

Oh, it's another question. Okay. So I'm going to publish that one. So this is from Natalie and she's interested in a graphic, which with specifically items that can't go in the compost worm farms, but can go in the FOGO bin. So the other thing that I've been talking to different councils about is until we get the standard bin contents lists and everyone is complying with those or whatever it might be, and that's something that's being managed by [inaudible 00:55:55], then you can take our assets and you use the list of things that are currently accepted by your contracts and not acceptance. And you can go to those individual images and insert them into your education materials. Not sure if you want to add to that, Rayna.

Rayna Mishra:

No. And also thank you for the feedback. I'll see if we can add that to our list. And as we said, the focus of the materials that'll be released from March will be the pre-transition and transition phase kind of messaging. But we do have a big list of items for production. So I can always put that request in. You're on mute, Karen.

Karen Cosson:

Sorry. Thanks, Rayna. I just noticed on the slide that's on the screen, the glass councils meeting is not tomorrow on the ninth. So don't panic if you wanted to come and didn't get an invite. It's on next week because there wasn't enough notice. So, yes. That was [crosstalk 00:57:08].

Laura Simic:

Well, if there's no other questions, I think we can wrap up a little early, give everyone some time back. Thank you very much everyone for attending today. I hope today's session was useful. Again, please email through if you've got any questions to the Grants.Enquiries email for anything grant or fund related, or application forms, SmartyGrants related. And then email through to the campaigns@sustainability.vic.gov.au email if there's any further questions about the campaign materials or the campaign or the asset library. We're here to help and support you. And I look forward to seeing your applications come in over the next, what have we got left? Five weeks to go. Thanks, everyone. Have a lovely day. And thanks to my co-presenters, Karen and Rayna.

Karen Cosson:

Thanks, everyone. Bye.

Laura Simic:

Thanks.