The Australian Government is extending the closing date for the $280 million Black Summer Bushfire Recovery (BSBR) Grants program to 6 October 2021.
Deputy Prime Minister and Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce said the new date provides almost five extra weeks for communities, impacted by the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, to lodge their submissions for recovery grants.
“I encourage all those who are eligible, and have a great initiative, to submit their application by the new 6 October closing date,” Mr Joyce said.
“All applications from the 110 eligible Local Government areas will be assessed on merit and demonstrated need.”
Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie said feedback from affected communities regarding the closing date has been heard and noted.
“We have listened to extensive responses from the impacted communities and are providing them with an extension of time to put forward their best ideas and projects that will meet local needs,” Minister McKenzie said.
“We are pleased to have committed $2.8 billion of Commonwealth support towards the recovery from the devastating 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, with $2.4 billion already spent to help people back on their feet.”
Coordinator-General for the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, the Hon Shane Stone said the new closing date buys people much-needed time.
“Many Australians are facing a major disruption to their lives due to COVID-19 and a lot of the communities impacted by the Black Summer Bushfires are now in lockdown. It’s understandable
that filling out a grant application may not have been someone’s highest priority,” Mr Stone said.
“It made sense to shift the closing date to give them a bit more time. We want people to have the time to think of projects that will bring the greatest benefit to their communities, and to get as much information and support as they can before pulling their applications together.”
The NRRA is continuing to support people in a range of ways to prepare their applications, for example online workshops are still available, as well as short videos and answers to Frequently Asked Questions on the NRRA website.
Black Summer Bushfire Recovery grants are available in every Local Government Area that was disaster declared as a result of the 2019–20 Black Summer bushfires.
For more information on the assistance that is available, including workshops, visit: www.recovery.gov.au/black-summer-grants
To start your application visit: https://business.gov.au/bsbr