LISMORE MP Janelle Saffin has welcomed the Australian Government’s new Disaster Ready Fund (DRF), which will provide up to $1billion over the next five years, from 1 July 2023, to improve Australia’s resilience to natural hazards.
Ms Saffin says she hopes the NSW Government, through the NSW Reconstruction Authority as its nominated lead agency, will identify key projects to better prepare the Northern Rivers and Northern Tablelands regions for future natural disasters that will surely come.
“The NSW Reconstruction Authority, the establishment of which I strongly argued for since the February and March 2022 floods, will work with local councils and communities to identify suitable proposals,” Ms Saffin says.
“The Disaster Ready Fund (DRF) Round One 2023-24 opened on Tuesday 10 January 2023 with Australian states and territories eligible to apply for a $200-million funding pool. Successful projects are to start from 2023-24.”
The NSW Reconstruction Authority will be responsible for coordinating proposals for their jurisdiction and submitting applications to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
Further information on how the Authority will undertake this process can be found on their website here.
Frequently asked questions, guidelines and a fact sheet can be located at Disaster Ready Fund – Round One | National Emergency Management Agency (nema.gov.au)
Projects under DRF Round One 2023-24 can target a broad range of natural hazards, and can include:
(Stream 1) Infrastructure projects, such as
· investment in grey infrastructure;
· investment in green-blue infrastructure (including nature-based solutions);
· investment in hazard monitoring infrastructure; and
· business case development for future infrastructure (including investigation, modelling, concept and detailed design activities).
(Stream 2) Systemic risk projects, such as
· supporting a better understanding of risk, through a better evidence base to understand and raise awareness of risk – to improve understanding of natural hazards and their potential impacts over time;
· strengthening decision making by enhancing governance networks and communities of practice, including the development and/or alignment of resilience and risk reduction strategies;
· adaptation projects that improve land use planning and development practice projects, including but not limited to the preparation of regional or local plans and updating land use planning instruments and building codes;
· projects that build the capacity and capability of businesses, community sector organisations and/or at-risk communities to improve their preparedness and resilience to the impacts of future disasters; and
· projects that enable and incentivise private investment in disaster risk reduction.
Applications for Round One of the DRF close 5pm AEDT on 6 March 2023.
