Engagement	We were engaged by the Department to provide independent viability assessments of proponents seeking Commonwealth funding under the Department’s Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program – Strategic Projects (“RLCI –SP”).
Challenges	Given the Government’s focus on stimulating the economy and encouraging immediate infrastructure investment throughout Australia, the engagement was high priority and time-critical. This required the coordination of a large team of McGrathNicol staff and constant communication with the Department to ensure all deadlines were achieved and high quality reports were produced.
Approach	In consultation with the Department, we assessed the following components of each proponent’s funding application: +         Proponent Viability; +         Project Delivery Viability; and +         Project Sustainability. As part of our scope, we identified key project viability and sustainability risks and recommended strategies to manage and mitigate the Commonwealth’s risks in funding individual proponents. Each assessment culminated in an overall risk rating for each component (Proponent Viability, Project Delivery Viability and Project Sustainability) based on the Department’s risk matrix.
Outcomes	We conducted and delivered over 100 assessments within the Department’s required timeframes. The assessments were used by the Department to identify those projects considered to be most and risk and to prioritise those projects to be recommended for RLCIP–SP funding.