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Future Drought Fund

The Commonwealth Future Drought Fund (FDF) is a long-term investment providing $100 million annually to help Australian farmers and communities become more prepared for, and resilient to, the impacts of drought. 

These projects will:  

  • provide opportunities for farmers and communities to adopt new technologies 
  • improve their environmental and natural resource management 
  • diversify their farm business planning and decision making 
  • participate in a range of community resilience activities.​​ 

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) has partnered with the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) to deliver the Regional Drought Resilience Planning and Farm Business Resilience extension programs, following a successful pilot over 2021-22.

The Commonwealth FDF and WA Government co-contributed funding valued at $20.2 million towards the programs to share drought resilient skills, information and technology so that communities can plan ahead and prosper through a drying climate.

Programs

The Regional Drought Resilience Planning (RDRP) program supports Australian agricultural regions in developing Regional Drought Resilience Plans to manage future drought risks. These community-led plans are created through partnerships among local governments, regional organisations, communities, and industry. 

In Western Australia, DPIRD has collaborated with Regional Development Commissions to implement the RDRP program in three pilot regions: Mid West, Great Southern, and Wheatbelt. Regional Drought Resilience Plans for the Mid West, Southern Wheatbelt, and Inland Great Southern have been developed, detailing actions and interventions identified by stakeholders and technical experts. 

The RDRP program, delivered by the state government and Regional Development Commissions, began with a foundational year of funding (2020-21) and has been extended through 2024-25. The initial funding supported the development of RDR Plans, while the extension includes both plan development and small grants for implementing drought resilience activities.  

The plans are community-led and owned, focusing on innovative ways to build regional drought resilience across the agricultural sector and supporting industries.

Find out more about the Regional Drought Resilience Plan for your region

The Farm Business Resilience (FBR) program creates opportunities for pastoralists and farmers across primary industries, as well as targeted Aboriginal programs, to connect with each other and business professionals to improve their farm business resilience.

The program caters to farm businesses across the following:

  • dairy
  • Aboriginal primary industries
  • aquaculture
  • broadacre mixed farming
  • pastoral
  • apiculture
  • horticulture.

It builds the strategic management capacity of farmers/farm managers and employees to prepare for and manage risk, adapt to a changing climate and improve the farm business’ economic, environmental and social resilience.

It supports learning in areas including:

  • strategic business skills
  • risk management
  • natural resource management
  • personal and social resilience.

The FBR program will help farmers identify gaps in their business strategy and provide them with the tools they need to prepare for, and manage, risk and improve farm business resilience. It also supports farm business planning, tailored to participants’ business and situation, and the opportunity for professional feedback on the plans.

Program industry providers

The 2022–2025 program implemented a single grants process exclusively for service providers. This streamlined approach was designed to ensure a focused and efficient allocation of funding, enabling providers to deliver targeted support and services within the program's framework.

The lead providers for each industry/landscape are:

Industry/landscape

Lead provider

Aquaculture

Aquaculture Council of Western Australia Inc.

Northern pastoral

Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen’s Association Inc.

Southern rangelands/pastoral

College of Extension

Northern horticulture

Value Creators Pty. Ltd.

Southern horticulture

Grower Group Alliance (Inc.)

Apiculture

The Bee Industry Council of Western Australia

Broadacre - grains

AgriStart Pty. Ltd.

Broadacre - livestock

Grower Group Alliance (Inc.)

Dairy

Western Dairy

Aboriginal economic development program

The department is working with Aboriginal organisations and key partners to build resilience across industry sectors. Five programs are being run.

Program

Description

Aboriginal Pastoral Academy
  • Expand Aboriginal Pastoral Academy to East Kimberley
  • Purpose-built training hubs to deliver annual entry-level training, upskilling and leadership development

Indigenous Aquaculture and Fishing Project
  • Build capacity in commercial fishing and aquaculture across Pilbara and Kimberley
  • Partner with established Indigenous Salt Water Advisory Group

First Nations Regenerative Agribusiness Capability Project
  • Increase demand for Aboriginal workforce across the supply chain for land restoration and rehabilitation work in Southern WA
  • Tailor regeneration, agribusiness and restoration training with industry expertise

Aboriginal Bushfood Business Support Service
  • Target capacity building to support Aboriginal businesses
  • Establish DPIRD Aboriginal Bushfood Business Support Service

First Nations Sandalwood Industry Capability Program
  • Implement WA Sandalwood Taskforce Report
  • Increase Aboriginal participation and leadership in the wild sandalwood industry
  • Deliver Setting up for Success Framework

The remainder of the program is being delivered through industry analysis, resourcing delivery and undertaking communication and reporting.

South-West WA 

The South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub is led by the Grower Group Alliance (GGA) and supported by a partnership between peak industry representative organisations, natural resource management groups, and the WA Government. The hub builds greater connectivity across WA to drive the uptake of new research and innovation, with collaborative and co-designed projects translating knowledge into practical on ground outcomes. 

The SW WA Hub has appointed Regional Node Leads, who provide guidance on priority issues impacting the drought and climate resilience of farming systems, their industries and communities. Node Lead positions are aligned with DPIRD office locations. 

Regional Advisory Committees (RACs) comprise skills-based representatives of agricultural industries. They provide guidance to the Hub on priority issues impacting drought and climate resilience of farming systems, their industries and communities.

Northern WA/Northern Territory (NT) 

Charles Darwin University leads the Northern WA/NT Hub supported by core partners including:  

  • Kimberly Pilbara Cattlemen’s Association 
  • Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association 
  • Northern Territory Farmers Association 
  • Territory Natural Resource Management (NRM) 
  • WA Rangelands NRM 
  • Regional Development Australia  
  • DPIRD 
  • NT Department of Industry Tourism and Trade. 

The hub collaborates to improve the resilience of farmers, traditional owners, and communities in the NT and WA tropical Top End and rangelands. Centred on pastoral, broadacre, horticulture and forestry systems and water management, the major focus will be on co-creating innovative tools, techniques and practices to support producers and their communities to achieve greater efficiency and sustainability in agricultural lands management. The Hub works closely with the network of existing research farms in the NT and WA. 

Further information

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