DEAR News Of The Area,

YOU may be aware that under the Morrison Government’s Black Summer Bushfire Recovery (BSBR) program, grants ranging from $20,000 to $10 million are available for projects in local government areas which were disaster-declared for the 2019-20 bushfires.

Community groups, businesses and councils can apply.

From feedback received through our Recovery Support Officers, we know lockdowns due to the pandemic have created difficulties for people preparing applications.

For this reason, we have extended the closing date to 5pm AEST on Wednesday, 6 October 2021.

The notional funding amounts identified against each LGA in the grant guidelines are just a guide – they are not a set allocation.

We aim to fund projects across all 110 eligible LGAs, based on projects received, demonstrated need and project merit.

The total amount of grant funding awarded to projects in each LGA may be higher or lower than these indicative amounts.

Support for applicants continues to be available via online workshops, as well as short videos and answers to Frequently Asked Questions on our website: recovery.gov.au/black-summer-grants. Applicants are also encouraged to call the Business Grants Hub call centre with any questions, which is open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday: Call 13 28 46.

This $280 million grants program builds on the $2.4 billion the Australian Government has to date provided to help communities impacted by these devastating bushfires.

Nationally, this includes over 27,000 grants and loans to small businesses and primary producers, over 4,900 properties cleared of debris, increased battery-back up to mobile phone towers across regional and remote Australia, and over 3,200 payments to emergency volunteers.

Regards,
The Hon Shane L STONE, AC QC
Coordinator-General, National Recovery and Resilience Agency.