The Minns Labor Government is boosting staff numbers to speed up the processing of Rural Assistance Authority (RAA) Recovery Grants for impacted primary producers, by doubling the number of people working on assessments by the end of this week.
This initiative is already reducing processing times for grants to primary producers who are recovering from recent natural disasters.
Since June, the RAA has received almost 2,000 applications and has approved more than $23 million in payments.
The initial rollout faced some delays due to the large number of applications lodged, but with many applications now processed the focus has shifted to ensuring payments get out the door faster.
By the end of this week already received applicants will either had their claim assessed or received a direct update on the status of their application and what, if any, information is still required.
The time for processing an application has been reduced to 25 business days, and the Minns Government has directed that the goal needs to be 20 business days as soon as possible. This is compared to Queensland's current 22 business days application waiting period.
The additional staff will work directly on assessments, ensuring straightforward applications are fast-tracked, and more complex cases have the extra resources to speed up the appropriate review.
The Minns Government has also in the last month improved the application experience for farmers by making it easier to upload documents and images, especially for larger sized files.
Another improvement has been to provide an easy-to-use guide that contains 'application tips' to support primary producers through the application process.
To apply for assistance: www.raa.nsw.gov.au and Grant Application Tips
Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional NSW, Tara Moriarty said:
"Our message to primary producers is clear, we have implemented improvements to processing applications but there is more work to do, and I understand their concerns regarding the waiting time for payments.
"That's why we are doubling the number of people on the job, to clear the backlog and get more payments out the door."
