15 September 2025
Tips for completing the budget section of the application form
The Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) Community Support Grant application form includes a request for details about funding sources and project costs.
Your budget outlines an income and expenditure strategy for your project and reflects your capacity to deliver the project or activity. This is part of the assessment criteria and is worth 20% of the overall assessment of your application.
Summary of application form sections
Details of co-contribution
This refers to other funding sources for the project. It can include donations, sponsorship, other grants and/or your own organisation’s cash contribution towards the project.
- Listing all forms of confirmed financial contributions from other income sources, your own organisation and project partners demonstrates overall buy-in, commitment and community support for your project.
- You will need to provide details of each funding source and mark them as ‘confirmed’ or ‘not confirmed’.
- You will need to provide evidence of confirmation of the co-contribution on letterhead of the funding source organisation.
In-kind contributions
In-kind support refers to any non-cash support towards your project.
- This may be in the form of donations of services or goods from project partners and/or your own organisation, such as free venue/equipment hire or volunteer time.
- In-kind contributions by project partners demonstrate buy-in, commitment and community support for your project.
- This amount does not add into the total project/initiative cost.
- Volunteer hours can be included as in-kind support and calculated at an hourly rate. Volunteer Australia’s volunteer rate guide can be found at Grants - understanding in-kind contributions.
Expenditure plan
List all items/services to be purchased to support the delivery of your proposed project or initiative.
- Use your Activities Project Plan to work out all the costs associated with the project – these are entered into the expenditure plan.
- If you are engaging facilitators or project workers, include a breakdown of their hours and rate based on an award or industry rate.
- Note that these project specific costs should not be more than 30% of the total project cost - see Page 6 of the Community Support Grants Guidelines.
- In the expenditure table, provide details of each project cost item and add further notes if required.
- All amounts should be Goods and Services Tax (GST) exclusive.
- Obtain and attach quotes as per the table instructions. Any expenditure over $1,000 (including equipment hire) requires a quote to be uploaded with the application. This will form part of the assessment of the application.
- If your project is auspiced, the auspice fee is calculated by the total cash income amount, less in-kind support, multiplied by the auspice percentage.
Amount of funding contribution requested from Suburban Rail Loop Authority
This is the amount of money you are requesting from the SRL Community Projects Fund.
Total project cost
This is the total cost of the initiative and is the sum of the co-contribution plus the amount you are seeking from the SRL Community Projects Fund. This is a calculated field.
How to complete the budget summary
Example of a completed co-contributions table
| Source of co-contribution | Co-contribution amount ($) | Is this funding confirmed? | Notes about this co-contribution | Evidence of co-contribution confirmation - on letterhead of the funding source organisation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash contribution | $500 | Confirmed | Own organisation | Attached |
| Grant | $3000 | Confirmed | Bendigo Bank Community Grant Program | Attached |
| Sponsorship | $1000 | Unconfirmed | Will be notified in late November 2025 by Community Connect |
Total co-contribution to your project/initiatives = $4,500.00 (This is a calculated field)
Example of a completed in-kind contributions table
| In-kind goods/services to be provided | Who is providing the in-kind contributions | Number of hours | Rate per hour | Total Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volunteer time given | Own organisation | 100 | $20 | $2000 |
| Project coordinator | Own organisation | 48 | $25 | $1200 |
| Landscaper | Gardens R Us | 16 | $200 per day | $400 |
Total In-kind contributions to your project/initiative = $3,600.00 (This is a calculated field)
Example of a completed expenditure table
| Expenditure description | Expenditure type (choose from drop down box) | Expenditure amount excluding GST ($) | Notes about this expenditure | Date expenditure is expected to be completed | For any expenditure item over $1,000, at least one quote will need to be uploaded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Project Coordinator | Services | $1200 | In-kind service (own organisation) | 28/04/2026 | Quote uploaded |
| Design & concept plans | Services | $3900 | Based on $150 per hour x 26 hours – set fee includes oncosts | 30/03/2026 | Quote uploaded |
| Play space consultant | Services | $1200 | Based on $150 per hour x 26 hours – set fee includes oncosts | 30/03/2026 | Quote uploaded |
| Access & inclusion specialist | Services | $960 | Based on $150 per hour x 26 hours – set fee includes oncosts | 30/03/2026 | Quote uploaded |
| Play equipment & seating | Equipment | $6840 | Adventure Plus | 20/03/2026 | Quote uploaded |
| Shade sails & fixing | Equipment | $4300 | Bunnings Warehouse | 20/03/2026 | Quote uploaded |
| Volunteer time for working bee and launch | Services | $2000 | In-kind service | 25/04/2026 | |
| Landscaper | Services | $400 | In-kind service (Garden R Us) | 20/03/2026 | |
| Signage (play prompts) | Equipment | $980 | Secton Australia | 20/03/2026 | |
| Marketing & promotion | Services | $1200 | Includes social media campaign and flyers | 10/04/2026 | Quote uploaded |
| Auspice fee | Services | $1020 | 5% of cash income | 30/04/2026 | Quote uploaded and Auspice Agreement |
Total expenditure amount = $24,000 (This is a calculated field)
Example of amount of funding contribution requested from Suburban Rail Loop Authority
This is a manual entry field, and you must enter the amount you are seeking as a contribution to the total project cost.
Amount of funding you are seeking from SRLA excluding GST = $15,900
Example of budget totals
These are calculated fields from your previous answers to the budget questions.
| Total Co-Contribution | Total in-kind contributions | Total amount of funding you are seeking from SRLA | Total expenditure amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| $4,500.00 | $3,600.00 | $15,900.00 | $24,000.00 |
Example of total project cost
Total project/initiative cost excluding GST = $24,000.00 (This is a calculated field)
Does your budget balance?
If your co-contribution, in-kind contribution and expenditure total have been entered correctly, the figure below should be $0.
This will confirm that you are not making a profit or loss for the delivery of this project/initiative.
If you have a figure other than $0, please re-visit the co-contributions, in-kind or expenditure tables.
You will be unable to submit the application if the budget does not balance.
(Co-contribution + in-kind contribution + amount requested from SRLA) – total expenditure = $0
($4,500 + $3600 + $15,900) - $24,000 = $0