Future Drought Fund

The $5 billion Future Drought Fund is part of the Australian Government’s Drought Response, Resilience and Preparedness Plan.

It provides secure, continuous funding to help Australian farmers and communities become more prepared for, and resilient to, the impacts of drought.

$100 million will be invested from the Future Drought Fund across Australia every year for projects to help strengthen drought resilience.

The Tasmanian Government is coordinating the delivery of two Future Drought Fund programs in Tasmania:

• Regional Drought Resilience Planning program will be delivered by the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
• Farm Business Resilience program will be delivered by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas). For more information about this program visit the NRE Tas website.

These two programs are jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Tasmanian Government.

For more information on the Future Drought Fund, visit the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website.

Regional Drought Resilience Planning Program

The Regional Drought Resilience Planning program is supporting regions to develop regional drought resilience plans to prepare for and manage future drought risks.

Under this program, regional project coordinators will work in each of Tasmania’s regions, partnering with regional development authorities, local government, industry, business and community stakeholders, to develop Regional Drought Resilience Plans for the North, North West and South.

These regional plans will identify a roadmap of actions to prepare for and manage future droughts, with a focus on innovative ways to build drought resilience across each specific region’s agricultural sector and allied industries. The plans will build on existing regional planning for climate change and climate variability, including the Tasmanian Coastal Adaptation Pathways and Climate Resilient Councils projects.

Consultation and participation

To ensure a consultative and collaborative approach, the project coordinators will work with stakeholders across regional Tasmania throughout the planning process to develop localised plans and supporting actions.

This process will bring people in regional Tasmania together to share their local knowledge, lived experiences, and perspectives.

Regional project advisory groups will provide advice to inform the development of each regional plan. These advisory groups are an important link to the local community, with anyone able to get involved in the group relevant to your region.

You can help prepare your region for future droughts by sharing your knowledge and ideas. We are specifically interested in hearing from businesses and individuals from our state’s agricultural sector and aligned industries.

There will be opportunities to participate in face-to-face meetings, forums and interviews.

Register to have your say in your region’s planning via Drought-Ready TAS – Your Say

By registering, you will be able to receive information about local events, updates on the planning process, provide feedback, vote on critical decisions, and submit your drought-ready ideas.

For more information, contact the Regional Drought Resilience Project Manager at resilience@dpac.tas.gov.au

Download the Regional Drought Resilience Planning Program Factsheet