Future Drought Fund will deliver better risk management for New South Wales

Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud and NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW John Barilaro today announced the Future Drought Fund programs, which will support farmers and regions to build resilience to future droughts.

"The $9.85 million Regional Drought Resilience Planning program supports partnerships of councils, regional organisations, communities, industries and farmers to develop regional drought resilience plans," Minister Littleproud said.

"The plans will identify how to manage through droughts, finding ways to build resilience across agricultural sectors and allied industries.

Planning will be community-led and owned. It will bring regional knowledge and perspectives, along with the best available evidence and data.

"Australian farmers manage uncertainty daily and the business of farming is becoming more challenging," Minister Littleproud said.

"The $16 million Farm Business Resilience program will give farmers access to subsidised learning and development opportunities to meet these challenges.

"The program will take farmers' knowledge and skills to the next level in risk management and decision-making, natural resource management, and personal and social resilience.

"It will also support farm business planning and access to experts and one-on-one advice.

"The Australian Government welcomes New South Wales's partnership in these important Future Drought Fund initiatives."

NSW will benefit from $5.5 million in Future Drought Fund funding for Farm Business Resilience and $1.9 million for Regional Drought Resilience Planning.

Mr Barilaro said NSW had made its way through the worst drought in recorded history and now is the time to start planning against future droughts.

"Our agriculture sector is the backbone of this state and we have seen the devastating social and economic impacts drought can have so we need to act now to prevent this happening again," Mr Barilaro said.

"The planning will connect with and build on our regional economic development and water strategies. Plans will be locally led and support our community leaders and networks to make our communities safer, stronger and more resilient to the impacts of future droughts.

"The Farm Business Resilience program would see hubs set up across NSW for farmers to work on their farm business skills in a way that works for them."

The Australian Government has recently announced an additional $91 million for both programs over 3 years beyond the foundational year and will be working with states and territories on the detail.

For more details visit the Australian Government Future Drought Fund webpage agriculture.gov.au/fdf.

Fast Facts:

• The Farm Business Resilience program and Regional Drought Resilience Planning program are foundational programs under the Australian Government's forward-thinking $5 billion Future Drought Fund. 
• The Future Drought Fund is a long term sustained investment of $100 million each year to build drought preparedness.
• Both will roll out across the country from 2021 until June 2022.