Drought Assistance
If you have been affected by the drought, you're not alone.
All farmers, including irrigators, living in Exceptional Circumstances (EC) declared areas are eligible to apply for a range of assistance measures, including income support and interest rate subsidies.
The Australian Government announced changes to drought assistance in September 2007 that meant more farmers and small businesses in more areas are eligible for drought support.
Key components of the drought assistance program include:
- The off-farm income exemption has doubled to $20,000
- The off-farm assets limit for interest rate subsidies has increased to $750,000
- All small businesses reliant on farmers in towns with less than 10,000 people are eligible to apply for drought assistance
- Agriculture-dependant small businesses in larger population centres remain eligible
- There are more counsellors and an additional $4.5 million for a relief program to provide emergency assistance for communities dealing with the effects of prolonged drought
- Drought assistance has been extended until September 2008 for many areas and interim assistance is available to a number of new areas
- Farmers who have decided to leave the land may be able to access re-establishment support of up to $170,000. This includes up to $20,000 for retraining and relocation expenses.
For a list of these financial, personal and business assistance measures provided by the Australian Government and other organisations visit the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website.
Additional support is available to those in the Murray-Darling Basin.
More Information
Find out more about drought assistance and your eligibility for support by calling the Drought Assistance Hotline on 13 23 16 between 8am–8pm Monday to Friday.
Related Websites
- Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry—for more information about Drought Assistance
- Centrelink—information on how to apply for Drought Assistance, the Murray-Darling Basin Initiative and the Drought Bus schedules.
- Drought Force—information about the Drought Force programme which aims to help farmers with their workforce needs
- Australian Taxation Office—for information on tax relief for people affected by the drought
- Job Network
- Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs—information on the National Plan for Water Security and Murray-Darling Basin dry inflow contingency planning.
Notes
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