Expressions of Interest: Disaster Ready Fund (Round 2) – Australia

Deadline: 8-Dec-23

The NSW Government, Department of Communities and Justice has launched the Disaster Ready Fund Round 2 to provide investment in disaster mitigation across infrastructure and systemic disaster risk reduction projects, to address any, or multiple, natural hazards including extreme weather events and geological hazards.

Program Objectives

• This funding supports projects that:
  • increase the understanding of natural hazard disaster impacts, as a first step towards reducing disaster impacts in the future;
  • increase the resilience, adaptive capacity and/or preparedness of governments, community service organisations and affected communities to minimise the potential impact of natural hazards and avert disasters; and
  • reduce the exposure to risk, harm and/or severity of a natural hazard’s impacts, including reducing the recovery burden for governments and vulnerable and/or affected communities.

Categories

• Projects must target at least one eligible category in Stream One or Stream Two:
  • Stream One: Infrastructure
    • Infrastructure projects that are directed at achieving any or all of the following:
      • resilience to a future natural disaster that could affect an area (whether directly or indirectly);
      • preparedness for a future natural disaster that could affect an area (whether directly or indirectly); and
      • reduction of the risk of a future natural disaster that could affect an area (whether directly or indirectly).
    • Stream One projects must fall into one or more of the following categories:
      • investment in grey infrastructure;
      • investmentin green-blue infrastructure (including nature based solutions);
      • investmentin hazard monitoring infrastructure; and/or
      • business case development for future infrastructure (including investigation, modelling, concept and detailed design activities).
  • Stream Two: Systemic risk reduction
    • Systemic risk reduction projects that build the long-term sustainability of a community or communities in an area that is at risk of being affected (whether directly or indirectly) by a future natural disaster.
    • Stream Two projects must fall into one or more of the following categories:
      • supporting a better understanding of risk, through a better evidence base to understand and raise awareness of risk – to improve understanding of natural hazards and their potential impacts over time (i.e. disaster risk assessments and frameworks);
      • Projects that deliver inclusive plans at the household, community, regional and state levels to mitigate identified risks and impacts.
      • strengthening decision making by enhancing governance networks and communities of practice, including the development and/or alignment of resilience and risk reduction strategies;
      • adaptation projects that improve land use planning and development practice projects, including but not limited to the preparation of regional or local plans and updating land use planning instruments and building codes.

Funding Information

• Stream 1 Infrastructure
  • NSW Government Applicants: $1m – $15m
  • Local Government & Not-For-Profit Applicants: $500,000 – $10m
• Stream 2 Systemic DRR
  • NSW Government Applicants: $1m – $12m
  • Local Government & Not-For-Profit Applicants: $300,000 – $3m

Eligible Projects

• Projects must meet all the below criteria to be eligible for consideration:
  • be a maximum of three (3) years in duration (projects should commence from 1 July 2024);
  • be delivered in NSW or with a significant NSW based component;
  • align with the program objectives
  • target at least one eligible natural hazard type;
  • target at least one eligible category in Stream One or Stream Two
  • be risk informed in accordance with the Investment Principles
  • be aligned with plans in accordance with the Investment Principles, this can include alignment to the Second National Action Plan, or provides evidence that the project contributes to the development of plans
  • for place-based projects, demonstrate initial consultation with relevant stakeholders including Councils and First Nations peoples or communities;
  • for infrastructure projects, demonstrate land ownership or land-owner consent and that the project is shovel-ready with up-to-date costings and project completion set to occur within the maximum timeframe.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicant eligibility criteria:
  • To submit an EOI, applicants must:
    • be a NSW Government cluster, NSW Government department, NSW Government agency, or other stateowned entity, such as statutory authority or government owned corporation; and
    • have an Australian Business Number (ABN) or be auspiced by an eligible Organisation; and
    • be registered for GST; and
    • be an eligible entity:
    • a local Government entity; or
    • A not-for-profit entity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) or a Not-For-Profit registered with the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) or a social enterprise with a certification through Social Traders (unincorporated orgs are not eligible).

For more information, visit Department of Communities and Justice.