The NSW Department of Planning and Environment has announced a new, $1.6 million Strong Start Cadetship Program, through which Councils can obtain grants of $25,000 to fund university tuition for new planning cadets.
“To continue giving a strong start to our new generation of planners, we have launched a council cadetship program to directly address NSW councils’ planning workforce shortages and support them to employ new locally based planning cadets,” the Department said in a statement.
Councils can also use the funding to upskill existing council staff who are not working as planners.
The funding and ongoing end-to-end support aims to:
- encourage councils to onboard additional cadet planners and develop them into more senior roles;
- grow more planners in regional areas where the planning skills shortage is most severe;
- help planning graduates gain practical work experience while increasing the capacity of council planning teams.
This funding is available to eligible councils through a competitive grant process.
Applications close 5 pm, Friday 9 June 2023.
For further details about the application process and eligibility:
- Register to attend a webinar on Tuesday 30 May at 1.30 pm to hear more about the program and ask any questions you may have.
- Download the program guidelines, including grant application requirements and funding agreement.
- Contact Rukshan de Silva, Director (Regional NSW), Planning Delivery Unit or Brianna Cheeseman, Project Officer (Regional NSW), Planning Delivery Unit at planningdeliveryunit@dpie.nsw.gov.au.
If you’re interested to hear more about Strong Start, sign up to the department’s email updates about the program via the NSW Planning Portal.
