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Baw Baw Shire secures $102,000 AusNet grant for five rural hall upgrades, emergency generators and community resilience

Baw Baw Shire secured a $102,000 AusNet Emergency Resilience Grant for five rural halls, funding switchboard upgrades, generators, and community events to improve emergency power readiness.

By news@gippsland - 20th February 2026 - Back to News

Baw Baw Shire has been successful in an application for an AusNet Emergency Resilience Grant for five of our community halls. This grant is designed to reduce impacts of power outages in rural areas, with AusNet providing $102,000 in funding for three-phase switchboard upgrades to be undertaken at:

• Athlone Mechanics Institute (also known as Athlone Public Hall)
• Bell Stadium Rawson
• Seaview Mechanics Hall
• Thorpdale Mechanics Hall
• Willow Grove Public Hall

The grant application was lodged after the February 2024 storm event, which caused significant damage to Victoria’s electricity transmission and distribution networks and left many Baw Baw Shire rural communities without power for significant periods of time.

Following the February 2024 storms, Council secured an AusNet Emergency Resilience Grant, funding two trailer-mounted generators to support rural communities during prolonged power outages

Emergency power support

Two generators on trailers were also funded and were recently delivered to the Council’s Depot. Baw Baw Shire Council is working to prepare guidelines to determine when and how these resources will be delivered to the most suitable sites during periods of extended power outage.

Baw Baw Shire Mayor Councillor Kate Wilson said the support provided by this grant was a welcome asset for our more rural community members. "The switchboard upgrades and generators will allow each community hall to be fully utilised during a prolonged power outage. This is an important step in readying our communities for future extreme weather and other emergencies where power is affected." Cr Wilson said. To launch the project, Emergency Readiness Community Events are planned for the following dates and times:

• Saturday 28 February, 10.00am - 1.00pm at Athlone Public Hall
• Friday 10 of April from 5.00pm - 8.00pm at Thorpdale Hall

All community members are welcome to attend these sessions, where there will be a free community meal, emergency readiness information, giveaways of disaster preparedness resources, and displays by AusNet and local emergency services. To RSVP and for further information, see Baw Baw Shire Council Events page.

Pictures from Baw Baw Bookable website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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