Through the Program, the State Government is committed to supporting the widespread adoption of digital farm technologies. The goal is to improve business and agricultural productivity by providing enterprise-grade digital connectivity for regional WA.
The program aims to advance telecommunications and technology in WA's regional areas by:
- Expanding mobile coverage.
- Providing fast, reliable, affordable and scalable broadband necessary to support digital farming practices.
- Enabling farming businesses to access smart farming and productivity enhancing technologies to improve output, making businesses internationally competitive.
By the end of 2021, it is expected that extended services will be available to over 1400 farming enterprises across nearly 65,000 square kilometres through parts of the Kimberley, Gascoyne, Midwest, Wheatbelt, Peel, South West and Great Southern regions of Western Australia.
Grants have been awarded to across three rounds, with the successful recipients detailed below.
Inaugural round – awarded in 2018
Grant funding of $4.8 million has been awarded to five successful recipients under the Program’s inaugural round - which will extend services through 11 projects to provide coverage for at least 1240 farms, covering 41,000 square kilometres.
These projects are being delivered in areas including the North Midlands, South West and Great Southern, as well as in the districts of Chapman Valley, Mount Barker, Wickepin, Goodlands and Kununurra.
| Recipient/Project | Funding Grant |
| Capel/Busselton | $500,000 |
| Kununurra Central | $497,065 |
| Kununurra North | $500,000 |
| Wagerup/Boddington | $491,000 |
| Williams | $500,000 |
| Chapman Valley - Fixed Wireless Network | $500,000 |
| North Midlands - Fixed Wireless Network | $500,000 |
| Mt Barker - Pivotel Ecosphere Network | $277 500 |
| Wickepin - Pivotel Ecosphere Network | $277 500 |
| Great Southern | $500,000 |
| Goodlands | $260,000 |
Round 2 – awarded in July 2020
Three successful recipients were provided $2.1 million in grant funding to extend services through four projects delivering broadband connectivity to an estimated 245 farms, covering approximately 24,000 square kilometres.
The areas to be serviced by these projects include the Gascoyne River in Carnarvon, Mid-West and West Midlands and in the Wheatbelt Shires of Merredin, Bruce Rock and Narembeen.
| Recipient/Project | Funding Grant |
| Carnarvon Horticultural District Project | $600,000 |
| Merredin, Bruce Rock and Narembeen Telecommunications Project | $500,000 |
| Geraldton to Mullewa Fixed Wireless Network | $500,000 |
| Dandaragan Fixed Wireless Network Project | $500,000 |
Round 3 – awarded in January 2021
The third round of the program provides $6.3 million towards the delivery of enterprise-grade broadband to 600 agribusinesses and residents across more than 43,600 square kilometres in the Great Southern, Central Wheatbelt and South Coast of Western Australia.
A total of 5 projects will be delivered by 4 recipients through this round, with up to $3 million for Esperance and surrounding districts and up to $3.3 million for the Central Wheatbelt and Great Southern.
The projects will deliver enterprise-grade broadband to the shires of Esperance, Kukerin, Koorda, Mount Marshall, Wyalkatchem, Tammin, Quairading, Beverley, Yilgarn, Kulin, Kent, Lake Grace, Dumbleyung, Goomalling and Cunderdin.
To deliver this service, we are partnering with:
- Bunbury-based company CipherTel (using infrastructure in collaboration with Telstra).
- Narrogin-based company CRISP Wireless for the Central and Far Eastern Wheatbelt Expansion Project.
- Field Solutions Group for the Dumbleyung Digital Connectivity Project and the Wireless Wheatbelt – Avon East.
- North Eastern Wheatbelt Regional Organisation of Councils (NEWROC) for the Expansion of the NEWROC Network – Central Wheatbelt Project.
The Esperance project is a community-driven grant, with the South East Premium Wheatgrowers Association collaborating with the project partners CipherTel in association with Telstra to enable the service to be provided to the Esperance district and surrounds.
Contact us
For more information, please contact the Agricultural Technology team members on +61 (08) 6552 2133 or +61 (08) 6552 2032 for assistance or email digital.farm@dpird.wa.gov.au
Round three - application information
Round 3 of the program has now closed.
The base criteria of the program requires a $1 Proponent contribution for every $1 of State funding requested. However, less than this amount in co-contributions from Proponents is acceptable, providing Proponents submit a clearly-documented case to justify the request. This potential concession is designed to encourage submissions that will serve more remote agricultural regions that are typically further from existing telecommunications assets and often less-intensively farmed.
The Department may provide information and referrals that could assist your proposal development activities during the application period. This includes information on farms and farming groups within a local area, and information on potential access to telecommunication infrastructures and/or its supporting infrastructure in your chosen project area, if available.
Grant funding will be provided to a Proponent, nominated consortium or entity and can only be used for capital expenditures and development costs to improve connectivity to Agribusinesses, residents and other potential stakeholders in one of the approximate three priority coverage areas in the Central, South East and Esperance Grainbelt regions of WA.
As there will be a need to operate the telecommunication network after the project build phase, the Proponent must be a licensed carrier under the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Commonwealth).
Applications will be evaluated on the number of agribusinesses covered and the ongoing sustainability of the network as an operational commercial entity. As such, the applicant’s ability to attract other potential customers and investors; and ability to provide price competitive digital connectivity services, creating jobs will also be assessed.
Eligibility
- ADDENDUM - Network proposed, at a minimum, should provide a baseline download capability of 80Mbps and upload capability of 40Mbps at the customer’s premises. For more information, please view Addendum 1. Digital Farm Grants Program – Round 3.
- The Proponent must hold a valid carrier licence under the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Commonwealth), and thereby be authorised to provide carriage services to the public.
- Proposals must be located in one of the approximate three priority coverage areas in the Central, South East and Esperance Grainbelt regions of WA.
- Proposals must improve connectivity for farming businesses that are not currently serviced by the www.nbnco.com.au/learn/rollout-map, with an exception of a 20 percent overlap permitted.
- Proposals must not propose services in areas covered by projects being delivered under current Digital Farm Grants Programs or any new or existing fixed wireless areas with an exception of a 20 percent overlap permitted.
- Proponents must demonstrate at least 25 agribusinesses are serviced in a Proposal.
- Co-investment from proponents is required – refer to the Program Guidelines.
- Proposals must detail the commercial viability and profitability of the proposed Network.
Additional information
The Program Guidelines provide details on the application, eligibility criteria, assessment process, project management requirements and other relevant information.
Should an applicant be successful, a Financial Assistance Agreement will be executed between the applicant and the Department. A sample of the Financial Assistance Agreement template is provided for reference.
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Applications
ADDENDUM 2 - The Digital Farm Grants program - Round 3 closed on Friday 27 November 2020 at 5.00pm (AWST).
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Contact us
For more information, refer to the Program Guidelines and Frequently Asked Questions, or contact the Agricultural Technology team members on +61 (08) 6552 2133 or +61 (08) 6552 2032 for assistance. Please note that the Department is not liable for the advice provided.
All enquiries can also be emailed to digital.farm@dpird.wa.gov.au