More than 20 emergency management and community organisations have received $3.2 million in funding to strengthen their response to natural disasters as part of the latest Risk and Resilience Grants Program.
30 grants have been allocated to organisations and agencies, including flood-plain management authorities, municipal councils, non-government community organisations and Victorian government departments and agencies.
Under the program, recipients make a co-contribution towards an initiative that is focused on identifying and mitigating potential natural disaster risks, such as climate change adaptation, designing resilient infrastructure and developing strategies to manage the local and regional risks of natural disasters.
Among the latest round of grant recipients are:
- Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) receiving $50,000 to carry out enhancements to the Community Emergency Risk Assessment Online platform
- Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust receiving $100,000 to complete bushfire mitigation works in the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust area
- Yarra Ranges Council receiving $110,00 to upgrade Emergency Relief Centre facilities in the area so that they are more resilient and fit for purpose as refuges during times of need
- and a total of 17 local councils sharing more than $2.3 million including $165,000 awarded to Alpine Shire Council to undertake a detailed flood study of Myrtleford and the Ovens and Buffalo Rivers.
The grants program is funded under the National Partnership Agreement on Natural Disaster Risk Reduction (NPA). The NPA aims to reduce the risk and limit the impact of disasters associated with natural hazards on Australian communities and economies and will deliver on the priorities and goals of the Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Framework (External link).
The Framework outlines a national, comprehensive approach to proactively reducing disaster risk, now and into the future.
Visit our Risk and Resilience Grants page (External link) to see the full list of recipients and to learn more about the program.
The department acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land and acknowledges and pays respect to their Elders, past and present.