The Mid Murray region has been awarded a $195,426 Australian Government technology grant to help deliver better outcomes for the community.
The ‘Destination Mid Murray’ project, has been announced as one of 52 successful projects under Round One of the Australian Government’s inaugural Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.
The project will install information kiosks and beacons in 11 towns in the Mid Murray Region. This will benefit the community by improving access to Council services and providing increased opportunities to access government services, job finding and social connection services.
Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation Angus Taylor joined with Member for Barker, Tony Pasin in congratulating the Mid-Murray Council along with application partners District Council of Loxton Waikerie, Regional Development Australia Murraylands & Riverland Inc, Cadell Community and Tourist Association, The Swan Reach Progress Association Corporated.
“A total of $28.5 million in Round One funding is being provided by the Australian Government for projects across Australia, with 40% of projects located in regional areas.” Assistant Minister Taylor said.
“This program is about delivering technology solutions to help fix practical problems in local communities. We are focused on delivering solutions across Australia, across our regions, suburbs and city centres.”
Mr Pasin welcomed the news and commended the council and partners for their innovation.
“Destination Mid Murray is a new, smart and innovative solution to improve the liveability of the Mid Murray Region. It will create dynamic, data-driven and multi-screen user experiences that will improve the delivery of Council services and access to public data to the Mid Murray community,” Mr Pasin said.
In addition to the Australian Government’s $195,426 contribution, Mid-Murray Council will contribute $338,854, District Council of Loxton Waikerie $10,000, Regional Development Australia Murraylands & Riverland Inc $5,000 to make the project a reality.
The $50 million Smart Cities and Suburbs Program supports local governments and partner organisations to deliver technology projects to solve the critical challenges facing our cities, suburbs and regional centres, tackling issues such as congestion, housing supply, community safety and access to essential services.
Round Two of the Program is expected to open in the first half of 2018.
More information on the Program and the Smart Cities Plan is available at https://cities.dpmc.gov.au/
CONTACT: Charlotte Edmunds 8531 2466
