Disaster Ready Fund

Last updated: 23 January 2024

The Australian Government's Disaster Ready Fund provides up to $200 million per year to fund projects that build resilience to natural hazards. Funding and administration decisions are made by the Australian Government, with state and territory governments administering the program within their jurisdictions.

Tasmanian applicants performed strongly in Round One, with 19 projects receiving over $14 million in Australian Government funding.

Applications for Round Two of the Disaster Ready Fund are now open

Applications for funding under Round Two must be submitted via the SmartyGrants portal by 5:00PM on Wednesday, 20 March 2024.

Who is eligible?

Anyone can develop a proposal for funding under the Disaster Ready Fund.

Applicants must submit project proposals through Lead Agencies. For Tasmania, this is Resilience and Recovery Tasmania via the SmartyGrants portal.

The Tasmanian Government will then undertake a merit based assessment process to ensure eligibility and alignment with state and local priorities, with suitable projects being submitted to the National Emergency Management Agency for assessment and decision.

What projects are eligible?

Eligible projects may include:

• systemic risk reduction activities to improve the quality and impact of the response to future disasters: or
• direct investment in grey and green-blue, social and natural hazard monitoring infrastructure, including development of business cases and/or feasibility studies for future infrastructure (including investigation, modelling, concept and detailed design activities).

Applicants are required to make a minimum 50 per cent co-contribution. This can include in-kind contributions such as wages directly attributable to the delivery of the project, supplies, materials, or specific equipment required. The Resilience and Recovery Tasmania team can help you to understand your options for meeting this requirement.

How will projects be selected?

Funding decisions are made by the Australian Government. This includes the selection of successful projects.

The Tasmanian Government will undertake a merit based assessment process to ensure eligibility and alignment with state and local priorities to select suitable proposals to include in the Tasmanian application.

The process for applying for funding under Round Two is outlined below:

1. Applicants submit expressions of interest via resilience@dpac.tas.gov.au (note, this is not a prerequisite to submit an application but encouraged as providing our team with an idea of your proposal early in the process allows the opportunity for us to collaborate and provide feedback to support the development of your application).
2. Applicants complete application via SmartyGrants with full supporting documentation by 5:00PM on Wednesday, 20 March 2024.
3. All eligible proposals are considered by the Tasmanian Government during a merit based assessment process. Submission of a proposal does not guarantee that it will be included in the Tasmanian application.
4. The Tasmanian Government submits suitable projects to the Australian Government by Monday, 29 April 2024 for assessment and decision.
5. The Australian Government chooses and announces successful projects.

For further information, please refer to the Disaster Ready Fund Round Two Guidelines or the Application How-to Guide, or contact resilience@dpac.tas.gov.au with any questions about this program.

DRF Round One

Round One of the DRF committed $200 million of Australian Government investment for 187 projects.

The Federal Minister for Emergency Management and the Premier announced the outcome of Round One for Tasmania on 7 June 2023.

Tasmania received over $14 million in funding for 19 projects that will focus on building resilience in the state. This is matched by funding from within the State resulting in a total investment of $30 million in critical resilience building projects for Tasmania.

Approved projects include community resilience and awareness projects, investment in infrastructure, erosion mitigation strategies, data collection and sharing, and emergency response equipment.

For a full list of approved Round One DRF projects, you can click here.