“The original spark for Corena came from a light-hearted quip. I was enthusing about the stationary energy plan, published by Beyond Zero Emissions in 2010, to a fairly mainstream relative. When she heard that Australia could transition to 100% renewable energy in 10 years at a cost of just $8/week per household, she said, “Great! Where do I send my $8 per week?“

An idea was born. It occurred to me that possibly hundreds of thousands of householders were thinking the same thing. Why not establish a ‘place’ where all these people could send their contributions (of any amount) to collectively pay for practical renewable energy projects that reduce carbon emissions immediately. So we did.

Since then of course, numerous people have been involved in shaping Corena. My thanks to them, and to all of you who are turning the original spark into reality.”

– Margaret Hender, Founder

Community organisations apply for zero-interest loans to pay for projects such as solar panels, energy efficiency, or purchasing electric vehicles.

Corena then invites everyone to chip in to raise enough money for the loan. The resultant savings on energy/fuel bills cover the loan repayments into our revolving fund.

They then use more new donations and loan repayments from earlier projects to give a loan to the next project. Once that is paid back, the money is combined again with new donations for another project and so on. A proportion of the loan repayments (up to 20%*) is also used to source new projects and provide technical support.

The Health Workforce Scholarship Program (HWSP) provides scholarships and bursaries to help health professionals in remote and rural Australia retain and enhance their skills, capacity and scope of practice.

Scholarships and bursaries are available for medical, nursing, midwifery, dental, allied health, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers, who are providing primary health care in remote and rural Queensland. They must work in private practice, Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS), Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS), or non-profit organisations.

Eligible Locations:

• MM 3-7 locations for remote and rural primary health care providers.
• MM 1-7 locations for health professionals employed by AMSs and ACCHSs.

Bursary: Payments of up to $10,000 within a 12-month period that covers the cost of course fees and training related expenses such as travel and accommodation where appropriate. Including online or face-to-face: short courses, workshops, and conferences.

Scholarship: Payments up to $10,000 per year can be provided for up to two years, to attain a post graduate qualification of either a postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma, Master or PhD.

Note: Retrospective costs (completed courses) are not eligible for funding. If you’re currently undertaking eligible upskilling (part-way through the course), funding may be assessed for future expenses.