The Water Minister’s Climate Innovation Challenge (WMCIC) supports innovation and collaboration across Victoria’s water sector to address the impacts of climate change.
The WMCIC is open to all Victorian water corporations and provides a structured approach to developing and implementing solutions to key climate-related challenges.
This year, the WMCIC is taking a more focused approach, with a spotlight on…
2026 Challenge Theme:
Future-focused and sustainable management of biosolids
Wastewater treatment contributes a significant proportion of the water sector’s greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, biosolids management is a key area of focus for emissions reduction and environmental performance.
Biosolids are solid by-products of wastewater treatment and contain nutrients such as nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus. While these characteristics present opportunities for beneficial reuse, current management practices also present challenges.
The 2026 WMCIC is seeking submissions that fundamentally change the way the water sector manages and utilises biosolids to reduce emissions, sequester carbon, harness and beneficially reuse nutrients, and removes or destroys contaminants of concern.
Collaborations across multiple water corporations, with research institutes and other government sector organisations and with private sector organisations, is actively encouraged.
The WMCIC is designed to support and accelerate innovation across the Victorian water sector. The general aims of the WMCIC are to:
Encourage the development and implementation of innovative solutions that support climate resilience
Support projects that reduce emissions and improve sustainability outcomes
Reduce barriers for the Victorian water sector to explore and implement innovative solutions to climate change challenges.
Foster collaboration across the sector and with external partners
Enable practical, scalable solutions that deliver long-term value to water corporations and communities
2026 Focus Areas
In addition to the general aims, the 2026 WMCIC will specifically seek to:
Contribute to the delivery of Action 5.4 of Water for Victoria by exploring opportunities for resource recovery from biosolids.
Address existing and/or emerging compliance risks associated with the cost-effective and sustainable management and reuse of biosolids, including alignment with the National Environmental Management Plan (NEMP) 3.0
Reduce barriers for the Victorian water sector to explore and implement innovative solutions that support low-carbon and circular economy outcomes, in relation to biosolids
The WMCIC will deliver a Ministerial Innovation Award to the Victorian water sector and promote and recognise innovation.
The funding pool for the 2026 WMCIC is $320,000. This money will be awarded to one or multiple submissions at the discretion of the judging panel.
The WMCIC is open to all Victorian Water Corporations. Collaborative submissions are encouraged provided the submission is led by a Victorian Water Corporation.
Submissions must meet the competition brief and all areas of the submission must be addressed and must be endorsed by an Executive representative from within the submitting organisation.
A submission cannot be shortlisted unless all criteria is met.
Entries must be submitted via this website via the Awardforce competition software platform.
Winners of the WMCIC are to provide progress reports every 6 months following the receipt of the funding, including potential site inspections, completion/implementation reports, and benefits and impacts realisation report.
Assessment Criteria
Stage 1 – Eligibility Review
- The submission must relate to future focused and sustainable management of biosolids[1] in some capacity
- All the required fields of submission have been completed by the applicant
- The submission is led by a Victorian Water Corporation
- The submission was received before the closing time and date
- The submission has been endorsed by an Executive Team member from the submitting water corporation
- The submission is focussed on an initiative or project that aims to deliver a future focused and sustainable management of biosolids that leads to a positive climate outcome
[1] For the purposes of the WMCIC 2026, biosolids is defined as the solid byproduct of wastewater treatment processes
Stage 2 – Shortlisting Criteria and Weighting
- Emission transition outcomes: The degree to which the project demonstrates achieving a real and measurable positive climate outcome consistent with the DEECA emissions transition plan objectives. (30%)
- Future focused and sustainable: The degree to which the project outcomes can be maintained or improved in the future and scaled across the water sector in Victoria. (30%)
- Capability and capacity to deliver the project: The degree to which the applicant can demonstrate their capability and capacity to successfully undertake and deliver the project/activity. (20%)
- Risk identification and control: The degree to which the applicant identifies potential risks and adequate actions to remove, reduce or manage those risks. (20%)
Judging Stage 1 – Eligibility Review
Submissions will be reviewed by IWN to confirm they comply with entry requirements.
Judging Stage 2 – Shortlisting
Eligible submissions will be scored using a weighted system against a set of approved criteria. Not all judges will assess every submission; instead, judges will be allocated submissions to judge as outlined above. The highest-scoring submissions will be considered the shortlisted finalists.
Judging Stage 3 – Final Pitch Judging
Final judging will be based on a live pitch, with judges attending only their allocated sessions to avoid conflicts of interest. A conferral meeting will be held immediately after the pitch event to finalise scores and agree the funding recommendations to the Minister for Water.
