Rural and regional communities in South Australia and Western Australia are sharing in $11 million investment in local drought leadership through the Future Drought Fund's (FDF) Drought Resilience Leaders program.
Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia David Littleproud said 19 participants were selected for the SA Eyre Peninsula region and 35 participants selected for the WA Northern Wheatbelt region.
"As part of the broader Future Drought Fund, this program provides leadership training and community engagement activities necessary to build drought resilience in our rural, regional and remote communities," Minister Littleproud said.
"We know that farmers listen to farmers, and others in their community. That's why we are investing in developing a new generation of community leaders to drive conversations and action to better prepare for inevitable drought."
The Drought Resilience Leaders program is a partnership between the Australian Government and the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation Limited (ARLF).
The participants were selected after a competitive application process for a mix of residential and remote training, including personal and community resilience, and network and adaptive leadership.
To enable participants to apply their skills in their local communities, graduates from the program are also able to apply for a grant to put their leadership skills into action that benefits their local community. The leadership development program will be run in 12 regions across Australia.
