Drought assistance and sources of support

The Australian Government's drought response, resilience and preparedness plan consists of three focus areas:

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1. Immediate action for those in drought

• Farm Household Allowance
• Rural Financial Counsellors
• Wellbeing
• Drought Community Support Initiative
• Regional Investment Corporation
• Tax deductions
• Drought Map
• Climate and weather
• Pest & weed Management
• Water for fodder
• Water infrastructure

2. Support for the wider communities affected by drought

• Drought communities programme extension
• Tackling Tough Times Together grants
• Building Better Regions Fund
• Roads to Recovery
• School Special Circumstances Funding
• Community Child Care Fund
• Drought Communities Small Business Support Program

3. Long-term resilience and preparedness

• Future Drought Fund
• Australian Government plan
• CSIRO Drought Resilience Mission

For specific detail and information on all of these click on this link to explore more -  Drought and rural support - DAFF

Government assistance

Useful links to government assistance:

• Rural Financial Counselling Network
• Drought and rural support - DAFF
• Drought support | National Recovery and Resilience Agency
• Drought support | Australian Taxation Office
• Drought Programs | Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts
• Farm Household Allowance - Services Australia  
• Loans - Regional Investment Corporation

Assistance directories and tools

There are a number of web pages that bring together services, support and assistance from government, organisations and charities. These resources are updated regularly to include new services and update existing information about programs as required. They offer a useful starting point in finding available financial assistance. Many of these sites collate all types of funding making it easy to find out what is available.

• FarmHub -  an Australian Government initiative administered by the National Farmers' Federation. It is a comprehensive directory of government and private sources of assistance available to farmers by state.                      

Explore - Farm Business Assistance | FarmHub

• Australian Government - Recovery Connect helping find assistance and support Recovery Connect
• Australian Government Business - grants and programs finder tool            

Grants and programs finder | business.gov.au

• Grants Assists - lists any available government grants on offer for drought relief Government grants for Drought relief - Grants Assist

Charities and organisations offering assistance

A list of organisations that have been know to provide support during drought are:

• Salvation Army Drought Community Support Initiative | The Salvation Army Australia
• St Vincent de Paul - Drought Community Support Initiative (funding exhausted) Vinnies
• CWA  Country Women's Association
• Rotary Rotary
• GIVIT GIVIT
• Lions - need for feed assistance  Apply For Assistance
• Drought Angels Apply For Assistance - Drought Angels
• Aussie Helpers Drought Relief Support Activities Aussie Helpers
• Electricity providers relief payment - availability will vary from state to state depending drought status, suppliers and schemes. A useful tip is to search by state via the Farmhub link above to see what schemes are available.
• Business Energy Advice Program is available to drought affected businesses with less than 20 employees to get better energy deals and reduce energy costs by increasing energy efficiencies.

Business Energy Advice Program

Managing Future Droughts

After experiencing many droughts, the focus has now turned to how to use the experience gained to better prepare for the next one. The links below outline resources and initiatives in place to help individuals and communities better manage the risks associated with drought:

• Future Drought Fund - DAFF
• Farm Business Resilience Program - DAFF
• Regional Drought Resilience Planning - DAFF
• Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hubs - eight hubs exist to support farmers and communities to get ready for drought. The hubs are defined by climatic and agricultural zones across Australia:
• Northern Western Australian and Northern Territory Drought Hub
• Tropical North Queensland Drought Hub
• Southern Queensland Northern NSW Innovation Hub
• Southern NSW Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub
• Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub
• TASAg Innovation Hub
• SA Drought Hub
• South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub

• Regional Investment Corporation Farm Investment Loan
• Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal - Networks to Build Drought Resilience Future Drought Fund's Networks to Build Drought Resilience | FRRR