WORKING ON THE AUSTRALIAN NSW STATE GOVERNMENT’S WESTINVEST PROJECT

For me, a great part of 2022 was working as a Senior Program Officer (SPO) the Australian New South Wales (NSW) State Government’s Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC), i.e. the NSW State Premier’s Office, specifically for the WestInvest Project – the DPC’s new AU$5 billion ESG fund that will finance transformational social & environmental infrastructure projects across 15 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the Greater Western Sydney Region.

As Senior Program Officer (SPO) for the WestInvest project, I was actively managing and reviewing a portfolio of WestInvest Community Grant applications specifically from Western Sydney LGA (Local Government Area) City Councils, Aboriginal Land Councils (i.e. Indigenous/First Nations), Not-for-Profits (NFPs), Sports Clubs, Schools, and Religious & Cultural Associations.

This was done in collaboration with DPC’s external project partners for WestInvest, the management consultancy firms PwC and the Balmoral Group, along with the Australian Government agency, Project Works Australia.

All of these councils, schools and organisations were applying for funding for proposed initiatives, such as parklands, eco-friendly solar powered infrastructure & waste management systems, children playgrounds, sports facility upgrades, school infrastructure upgrades, community centres, social business innovation hubs, domestic violence & drug rehabilitation shelters, high street road infrastructure & local business activation and community & cultural programs (e.g. Indigenous/First Nations & immigrant cultural awareness and mindfulness meditation programs).

In addition, I was also providing secretariat support for two WestInvest Grant Assessment Panels, comprising of Australian Public Service (APS) officials from various NSW State Government departments and agencies. These assessment panels conducted the final review of the WestInvest community grant applications. I would collate their findings into two reports detailing the assessment panel findings for the NSW State Treasurer.

The Australian NSW State Government Premier Dominic Perrottet and NSW Treasurer Matt Kean have already officially announced the formal launch of WestInvest at the following press interaction, which was covered by the Australian TV news network Channel 7:

 Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZJJ3Hg89H4&ab_channel=7NEWSAustralia

This was a fantastic ESG and Government project to have worked on. Not only did I collaborate with such an amazing and supportive team and supervisors, I had the honour of being part of an ESG undertaking that will improve the lives of millions of residents residing in the Greater Western Sydney Region for current and future generations to come.