Funding Available To Prepare For Dry Times

Community organisations in agriculture-dependent parts of Australia have been encouraged to apply for the latest round of Small Network Grants for initiatives that build community preparedness and resilience to future drought.

The Small Networks Grants program is supported by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund through the Helping Regional Communities Prepare for Drought Initiative.

Grants are available through two streams of funding for simple, one-off, or seed-type initiatives designed to strengthen local networks and capabilities of remote, rural or regional communities.

The first stream offers grants of up to $20,000 to all agriculture-dependent remote, rural or regional areas (except stream 2 locations). Stream 1 has an indicative funding pool of $1,175,900.

Stream 2 grants of up to $50,000 are available for groups in the NSW Far West, NT Tablelands, NT Arid Lands, Northern Queensland Dry Tropics and WA Great Southern.

An indicative funding pool of $1,296,350 is available for Stream 2. Nina O’Brien, FRRR’s Disaster Resilience and Recovery Lead, said preparing for the inevitable dry times ahead is critical, particularly for Australia’s agriculture-dependent regions.

“Our Small Network Grants program empowers local organisations to strengthen the social fabric of their town or locality by identifying and acting on their region’s drought preparedness priorities, at a grassroots level, in ways that best suit their communities,” Ms O’Brien said.

“We look forward to seeing projects that will help community groups be better connected, informed, and resourced in the next drought.”

The Small Network Grants program can fund project that fit into one of the following five categories:

• Networks - initiatives to strengthen the capacity, capability, and coordination of professional, social or community networks;

• Community events - field days, conferences, forums, summits, and seminars that facilitate professional, social and community connection to build understanding of drought and climate change associated risks;

• Training - initiatives to improve skills and capacity in community risk management, planning and project delivery in relation to drought;

• Community infrastructure - small-scale community infrastructure projects to improve connectedness, wellbeing and facilities; and

• Development and learning - initiatives to facilitate professional, personal and leadership related development and learning to support drought preparation.

Applications will remain open until March 26, with recipients announced in June 2024.

Potential applicants can watch https://youtu.be/CdeVdcjSwro?si=3YVOT5dmjw1MTwbF to learn more about the program and eligibility requirements.

• Topics:

• Grants / Funding
• Agriculture & Farming
• Community Groups
• Drought