Clean Air for the Inner West Grants Program

The new grants program will target truck operators who regularly travel through the inner west to the Port of Melbourne and provide them with a grant to remove their older, dirtier trucks off the road.

The program will reduce sources of air pollution in Melbourne’s inner west, delivering improved air quality and benefitting the local community. This commitment addresses two priority recommendations from the report prepared by the Inner West Air Quality Community Reference Group - Air Pollution in Melbourne's Inner West - taking direct action to reduce our community's exposure(opens in a new window).

Clean air for the Inner West Information bulletin [PDF 775 Kb]

The initiative invites truck owners to apply for a grant to demolish their pre Euro IV prime mover truck that operates in the inner west.

Truck owners will be compensated with a grant equal to the value of their truck on the used truck market up to a cap of $20,000 if they demolish their vehicle. The grant amount will be determined by a panel of industry experts to ensure the amount awarded is fair, and it will be confirmed by the Department of Transport and Planning. 

• Are you a registered Australian Business?
• Do you own a pre-Euro IV prime mover truck?
• Is your pre-Euro IV prime mover truck registered in the State of Victoria?
• Has your pre-Euro IV prime mover truck operated in Melbourne’s Inner West at least once a week, and undertaken port-related transport movements, in the last six months?

If you’ve answered yes to all these questions, you may be eligible to take part.

Terms of Participation 

Clean Air for the Inner West - Modernising the Truck Fleet Program       

This document should be read in conjunction with the Eligibility Criteria above, the application form and any other documentation produced by the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) and made available to applicants for the Clean Air for the Inner West - Modernising the Truck Fleet Program via DTP's website or some other means (together, the Documents). This document sets out terms of participation in the Clean Air for the Inner West - Modernising the Truck Fleet Program (Grant Program). Unless otherwise defined, terms defined in the Documents have the same meaning when used in this document.

1. No representations or warranties

The State of Victoria, represented by DTP, does not make any representations or undertakings to any applicant under the Grant Program other than to invite them to submit an application to participate in the Grant Program. 

The information in the Documents have been compiled by DTP for the purpose of inviting applications and must not be relied on for any other purpose. DTP does not warrant the accuracy of the information in the Documents and is not liable for any error or omission or any inaccurate information contained in the Documents or otherwise provided by DTP during the Grant Program's application process. The Documents do not contain all the information that applicants may require to decide to submit an application. Applicants should form their own views as to what information is relevant to their decision, and make their own independent investigations in relation to any such information.

No legally binding obligations arise on DTP unless and until it enters into a grant agreement with an applicant.

2. Confidentiality and privacy 

DTP will not disclose any information which applicants have designated as confidential, without prior written consent, unless required by law or as is necessary to conduct the application process. 

Any personal information which DTP collects as part of the application process will be handled in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic).

3. Ownership

The Documents and any other supporting material provided by or on behalf of DTP is, and remains, the property of DTP. 

All documents submitted by applicants in connection with the grant application process become the property of DTP on submission.

4. Communications

Applicants must not make any public statements or communications, or publish any media releases, in relation to the applicant's participation in the Grant Program or any grant awarded, without first providing a copy of the statement, communication or media release to DTP and obtaining the prior written approval of DTP. 

5. Conflict of interest and collusion

Applicants must declare if they have any actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest between the interests of the State and their interests in the context of the Grant Program. Where a conflict of interest arises, it must be assessed and be resolved in favour of the public interest and to DTP's satisfaction. If a conflict of interest cannot be resolved to DTP's satisfaction, DTP may exclude the Applicant from participating in the Grant Program in its absolute discretion.

Subject to any collaboration that is notified to DTP, each applicant warrants and agrees that it is in all respects independent and that no collusion has taken place or will take place between the applicant and any other applicant or other entity in connection with their participation in the Grant Program.

6. Termination or alteration of application process

DTP may terminate the grant application process in relation to any applicant, or the Grant Program, alter the application process or the scope of the Grant Program, or extend the closing time of the Grant Program, in its absolute discretion. 

For the avoidance of doubt, references to the 'application process' in the Documents (including this document) means the process for seeking and assessing responses to the grant applications, and includes selecting each successful applicant and concludes upon the execution of a Grant Agreement by each successful applicant.

7. No legal relationship

No legally binding contract (including any process contract) is formed between DTP and any applicant or person by reason of the Documents or the applicant/person's participation in the Grant Program and DTP is not bound to accept any application to participate in the Grant Program.

A legally binding contract will only arise if and when DTP enter into the Grant Agreement with a successful applicant.

DTP is not liable for any costs, expenses, losses, claims or damages that may be incurred by any applicant in connection with their participation in the Grant Program or entering into a Grant Agreement.

8. Grant agreement

A grant recipient will be required to enter a Grant Agreement with DTP. 

The Grant Agreement must be signed prior to any grant being received. Payment of the grant will be provided to successful applicants as set out under the Grant Agreement. 

9. Application information to be provided 

The Applicant must ensure their application (including any attachments) is correctly completed and signed and meets the requirements for the Grant Program, as set out in the Documents.

Applicants must provide any additional information requested by DTP for the purposes of assessing and evaluating their application (including attachments) within such reasonable time period as may be specified by DTP.

If the application is incomplete or does not conform to the required form, DTP may, in its absolute discretion, exclude the application or any part of it from consideration.

DTP may, in its absolute discretion, require or allow the applicant to amend, alter or otherwise change its application at any time during the application process.

10. Method of lodgement

Applicants must submit their completed application form (including any attachments) in the manner and by the closing time and date specified in the Documents.

11. Late submissions 

It is the Applicant’s responsibility to adhere to all response and application submission instructions, including submission times and dates specified in the Documents.

Emailed applications must be received by DTP by no later than 5pm on the relevant closing date as specified in the Documents. The time to lodge applications may be extended by DTP in its absolute discretion.

The determination of DTP as to the actual time that an application is received is final. All late applications will be recorded by DTP. DTP will notify any applicant whose application is received late. 

Subject to DTP’s sole discretion, applications lodged late or in a manner that is contrary to the submission requirements specified in the Documents will not be considered unless:

• the applicant can clearly document to the satisfaction of DTP that an event of exceptional circumstances caused the document to be lodged late; and
• DTP is satisfied that accepting a late submission would not compromise the integrity of the Grant Program.

12. Costs

The applicant is liable for their own costs and expenses in connection with participating in the Grant Program and entering into any Grant Agreement. 

13. Change in circumstance

The applicant must inform DTP promptly in writing of any material change to any of the information contained in its application (including attachments), and any material change in circumstances that may affect the completeness or accuracy of any of the information provided in, or in connection with, their application.

14. Questions

Any questions or requests for further information regarding the application process or the Grant Program must be submitted to DTP in writing, by email to the address specified in the Documents. 

15. Governing law

The Documents including this document, are governed by the laws of the State of Victoria. The applicant irrevocably and unconditionally submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria.

Following the application period an assessment panel will assess each application. The assessment panel will consist of staff from the Department of Transport and Planning and a residual committee consisting of truck sales industry experts with expertise in valuing second-hand trucks. The industry experts will provide subject matter expertise to assess the value of the truck on the second-hand market up to a cap of $20,000. Each industry expert will assess each vehicle, with the average value being considered the market value of the vehicle. This method of valuing vehicles is commonly used by truck dealerships to value vehicles.

Applications will be assessed by the following criteria

1. Eligibility
2. Age and model of truck

All applications that meet the eligibility criteria will be considered for funding. Eligible applications will be assessed based on age and model of truck and during the assessment process they will be ranked with the oldest vehicles prioritised ahead of newer models until funding is exhausted. This will achieve the greatest return on pollution reduction per dollar spent.

The evaluation value achieved in this process is final and incontestable. 

Successful applicants will be notified by email and issued a Funding Agreement.

Successful applicants will be responsible for organising the demolition of their vehicle at one of the Department of Transport and Planning’s nominated metal recyclers within 60 days of signing and submitting a grant agreement. An evidence of destruction certificate will be provided by the metal recycler at the time of destruction and successful grant applicants will be required to forward the certificate to the department within 30 days to receive the grant payment.

 *Any income received from the scrapping of your vehicle will be at market value. The transaction will be between the grant recipient and the metal recycling organisation.

Payment will be made into the applicant’s nominated account within 14 business days of completing and submitting the following requirements to the Department of Transport and Planning: 

• Completed and signed Grant funding agreement
• Demolition of vehicle/s identified in application
• Provision of Certificate of destruction of vehicle/s identified in application
• Valid tax invoice for agreed grant amount

To apply for a grant, please complete the online application form.

Applications received after the closing date will not be considered for the first round of funding.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their grant application in December 2023.

The Department of Transport and Planning (‘DTP’) is committed to protecting your privacy. Any personal information collected, handled, stored or disclosed about you through our services shall be managed in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 and the principles of Victorian privacy laws.

This collection notice applies to you when you register your interest to participate in the Cleaner Air for Inner West program (the ‘program’) and will detail how your personal information will be collected and handled.

We only collect, use and handle personal information when it is necessary for us to perform our functions or activities.

Your participation in the program is optional. You don’t have to give us all the information we ask you to provide, and we respect your choice to remain anonymous where it is lawful and practicable for you to do so. However, failing to provide the required fields on the online application form may make you ineligible to participate in the program. The online application form identifies what information is required. Unless asked for, please do not include personally identifying information in the body of open text questions.

The information you provide will be used to allow us to:

• verify that you meet the eligibility criteria to participate in the program
• contact you in case you are selected to participate in the program and send you instructions on how to participate
• evaluate your vehicle/s value for funding purposes
• contact you to prompt the exchange of a vehicle destruction certificate
• contact you to understand your experience and how we can improve the program
• contact you to send program updates and other relevant information
• evaluate the success of the program
• assess the continuation or expansion of the program
• design other initiatives to support the reduction of air pollution and improved air quality, benefitting the Victorian community.

Where necessary, we may disclose your information to truck evaluation professionals forming part of DTP’s evaluation panel, Stevedores at the Port of Melbourne, scrap metal recycling organisations or to other authorised third party service providers who will assist us by performing functions or activities on our behalf. We may also disclose your information when we are authorised or required to do so by law.

By providing your personal information, you are consenting to be contacted by the DTP, truck evaluation professionals forming part of DTP’s evaluation panel, stevedores at the Port of Melbourne, scrap metal recycling organisations or our authorised third party services providers to assist you through the program stages, seek any clarification on your responses, to seek feedback on your participation on the program, and/or to provide you updates on the program as outlined above.

You are not required to provide us with information relating to your health, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association or trade association/union, religious or philosophical beliefs or affiliations, sexual preference or criminal record. If you do volunteer such information, please note that we will consider that by you providing this information you also provide us with consent to collect it.

For more information on the Department’s collection, use and disclosure of personal information, or on how you can access your personal information held by the Department, please see the DTP Privacy Policy.

If you have any questions about the program, please visit https://dtp.vic.gov.au/ports-and-freight/clean-air-for-the-inner-west or please contact us at cleanair@transport.vic.gov.au