Community groups encouraged to access bushfire grant guidance and support

14 July 2021

Bega Valley Shire Council welcomes the recent announcement by the Australian Government of a new funding round to support bushfire recovery and resilience, and encourages community groups to take advantage of available application guidance and support to give themselves the best chances of success.

Under the $280 million Black Summer Bushfire Recovery (BSBR) grants program, which opens on 22 July, organisations can apply for a grant of between $20,000 and $10 million.

Bega Valley Shire Mayor, Russell Fitzpatrick said it was pleasing to see additional time had been allocated for community groups and organisations to review the guidelines and seek assistance to give their initiatives the best chance of being successful.

“While we are extremely grateful for the $38 million of Australian Government funding coming into the shire through the recently announced Bushfire Local Economic Recovery (BLER) Fund grants, a number of worthy projects have missed out in previous funding rounds,” Cr Fitzpatrick said.

“We hope many of these will be successful through this new grants program, which is focusing on initiatives that support social, economic and built environment recovery and resilience.

“Importantly, all applications must have the support of the community they are aimed at helping—community groups and organisations often know best what their community needs and as a Council, our goal is to work with the community to support recovery and build resilience, and help fill the gaps.

“Council will also be applying under the round, however based on the outcome of the recent BLER funding where Council received under $2 million of the total $38 million investment in our shire, we expect the majority of the funding will be allocated to community groups and other organisations.

“I encourage anyone who is thinking of applying for this grants program to have a look at the guidelines, attend a webinar or face-to-face workshop, and ask as many questions as you need to ensure your idea meets the criteria and your submission is as strong as possible.

“Recovery is an ongoing process and we hope this new grants program will provide the additional support our community needs on the recovery journey.”

If a project or initiative involves the use of public land or infrastructure, organisations are encouraged to contact Council before they submit an application. Council will soon introduce a streamlined, online process to enable organisations to do this and seek letters of support through our website, which will be ready in line with applications opening on 22 July.

The National Recovery and Resilience Agency is hosting a workshop in Bega at 12.45pm on Monday 26 July.  A number of online workshops have also been scheduled between 15 July and 5 August. To register or to find out more, go to www.recovery.gov.au/black-summer-grants-workshops

More information on the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery grants program is available at www.recovery.gov.au/black-summer-grants