While access to energy services is a basic human need, many households are struggling to afford the cost of energy, understand their energy use and navigate energy matters. In response to growing community need, NCQ partnered with QCOSS and Energetic Communities Assocation (ECA) to coordinate the Charge Up! Project, an energy education initiative delivered
by 20 Neighbourhood Centres across Queensland.
With many households, especially low income and vulnerable families, facing challenges in affording the cost of energy, understanding energy usage and navigating energy matters, Charge Up! focuses on making essential information accessible and empowering communities with practical energy solutions.
With over 2.6 million visitors through Neighbourhood Centres last year, Centres have proven to be powerful hubs of engagement, where people connect with support face to face in a safe, non judgemental environment.
By equipping Neighbourhood Centres with resources to guide their communities, the project engages community members in conversations about their power bills, bridging gaps in knowledge and ensuring essential energy information reaches Queensland’s most vulnerable households.
In FY 2025, NCQ worked with QCOSS and ECA to engage Centres in the participating in the project and act as a point of contact throughout the project. NCQ helped gauge current energy issues and knowledge in the Centres and communities, organise focus groups for co-design of resources for households, and consider Neighbourhood Centre contexts.
NCQ delivered a series of online communications and engagement workshops to participating Centres and participated in train-the-trainer energy literacy training facilitated by ECA in-person.
NCQ developed and delivered an online platform for the project, collating and making accessible all resources, training, upcoming events and reporting information for Energy Educators, as well as making resources easily available to all 150 Neighbourhood Centres across the state.
The Charge Up! project receives grant funding from the Queensland Government as part of the Enable Grants Program.