The Australian Government has released guidelines for the $280 million Black Summer Bushfire Recovery (BSBR) grants program, providing funding direct to communities to help in their ongoing recovery after the 2019-20 bushfires.
Minister for Emergency Management David Littleproud MP said bushfire recovery is still front and centre for the Australian Government.
“The Government has committed more than $2 billion to bushfire recovery support, but we know disaster recovery is a long haul. These grants will help communities continue their bushfire recovery journey.
“There is money earmarked for every eligible Local Government Area, with bigger funding envelopes for the areas that were hardest hit,” Minister Littleproud said.
Coordinator-General for the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, the Hon Shane L Stone AC QC said the grants are for projects that boost community recovery and at the same time help minimise the impact of future natural disasters.
“We know it takes time for communities to move forward after a disaster, and the impact of the Black Summer bushfires is still deeply felt,” Mr Stone said.
“True to my agency’s guiding principle of ‘locally led, locally understood and locally implemented’, we have designed this program to be as simple and flexible as possible, so recovering communities to can develop local projects that make sense to them.”
Grants can range from $20,000 to $10 million and are open to community organisations, businesses and councils in Local Government Areas that were disaster-declared as a result of the 2019-20 bushfires.
Senator for New South Wales Jim Molan encouraged local community groups and organisations to apply.
“This grants program is a great opportunity for our communities to identify and invest in recovery and resilience, through projects that address the social, economic or built environment needs of the community.”
“I encourage people in Eden-Monaro to look at the guidelines, consider their community’s needs and start planning projects – you know your local area best, so have a think about what could really benefit your community and help with recovery.”
Applications open 22 July 2021 and close on 2 September 2021.
Workshops to assist applicants with the grant process will be available in person and online from mid July.
The Black Summer Bushfire Grants program is part of the National Bushfire Recovery Fund. The National Recovery and Resilience Agency administers the grants. For more information and workshop details visit recovery.gov.au/black-summer-grants.
Guidelines and the preview application form are available from the Business Grants Hub at https://business.gov.au/bsbr
END