Published on Tuesday, 17 June 2025 at 4:15:00 PM

A transcript is available below, as well as on-screen in the video.

Hello, I’m Vivienne MacCarthy, President of the Shire of Donnybrook Balingup.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this important community update. Today, I’d like to provide clarity on changes to the 2025-2026 budget for our Community Grants & Donations program, and what this means for our community moving forward.

Before I speak about the changes, I want to sincerely acknowledge the valuable contributions made by four incorporated associations who have partnered with the Shire under Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Over the past several years, these agreements supported the delivery of specific services or projects, with annual reporting on how their funds were used.

During the 2024-2025 annual budget review, several key insights emerged:

• Without core strategies for tourism and economic development, it became difficult to renew SLAs with clear, measurable outcomes.
• Committing the majority of the total budget available for the Community Grants & Donations Program to just four groups over a multi-year term limits Council’s ability to respond to evolving community needs.

As a result, in April 2024, Council made the decision not to renew the existing SLAs beyond their expiry dates and each organisation was advised of this change by our then-Acting CEO, Tim Clynch. To support a smooth transition for SLAs expiring on 30 June 2024, Council provided 60% of the annual SLA amount to both the Donnybrook Regional Tourism Association and the Balingup & Districts Tourism Association.

In May this year, I joined CEO Nick O’Connor in meeting with each association once again to confirm that further funding in 2025-2026 would depend on Council’s decision at the Ordinary Council Meeting (OCM) scheduled for later in that same month. We also shared our commitment to working collaboratively with each association to build new strategies for tourism and economic development.

At the May OCM, Council resolved to:

• Move away from the Service Level Agreement (SLA) structure. To further assist smooth transition, reduced the allocation to each of the Tourism Associations to $10,000.
• Increase the budget for Community Grants & Donations by $10,000 from $22,000 last year (2024-2025 period) to $32,000 for the upcoming year (2025-2026 period).
• Invite incorporated associations to apply for funding under this revised Grants & Donations Program.

Going forward, funding will focus on supporting specific projects or providing ‘seed funding’ to help organisations become self-sustaining. We’ve also included ‘in-kind’ support within the overall Grants & Donations budget to better reflect the value of Shire services and resources provided to groups holding community events.

It is important to know that the primary driver behind these changes is the need to develop robust, strategic plans for tourism and economic development. Planning is already underway to resource this work and to engage with community groups to shape these strategies in 2025-2026. It’s also important to note that this decision is not related to Council’s efforts to close the financial gap in our Long-Term Financial Plan (LTFP).

On behalf of Council, I want to thank you for your continued support and understanding as we make these difficult decisions that are necessary to better serve our community.

More information is available in the minutes and reports from the May OCM, which are available on the Shire website. You can also submit any questions through the form on the Contact Us page.

Thank you.

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