About Bright Futures Fund

The North West Transmission Developments (NWTD) project is upgrading the electricity network across the north and north west, and as part of that, TasNetworks is investing $10 million into local communities through the Bright Futures Fund (BFF). The program is launching on 19 June 2026.

Co‑designed with local communities, the Bright Futures Fund is focused on creating a positive, lasting legacy for the areas surrounding the NWTD.

An Independent Community Assessment Panel helps to decide where the funding goes.

Applications are open to community‑led projects, big or small, offering four funding tiers ranging from a few thousand to several hundred thousand dollars.

Background

Like any major infrastructure project, the North West Transmission Developments has the potential to impact on communities during construction and operation. Developing a community benefits sharing program, now called the Bright Futures Fund, is part of TasNetworks’ commitment to ensuring an ongoing and sustainable positive legacy for communities located within the NWTD project area.

The Bright Futures Fund will run alongside construction of the NWTD. On that basis, the benefits program is expected to operate between 2026 and 2030, or until such time as the financial investment has been expended. 

Developing the Bright Futures Fund

During 2022, TasNetworks undertook a co-design process with the local community and stakeholders to develop, refine and finalise a proposed community benefits sharing program for the North West Transmission Developments project. This included engagement to collect feedback on program eligibility, funding, governance, and administration.

A key aspect of the process was the creation of a Youth Panel. Young people are the community members who will be living with the project for the longest, but they are very often completely absent from community engagement processes. 

The Youth Panel was asked to draft a community benefits sharing framework to ensure the values, concerns and priorities of the local community, and in particular young people in North West Tasmania, were reflected in the benefits the Bright Futures Fund will deliver.