QLD Drought Preparedness Grants

QLD Drought Preparedness Grants

  • Applications Open:  This program is open on an ongoing basis.
  • Grants: up to $50,000

The program seeks to help primary producers offset the cost of new permanent capital infrastructure, to improve the resilience to drought of their primary production business.

Key Requirements

The eligible applicant must comply with the Farm Business Resilience Plan requirements include:

  • Business risks
    • financial viability
    • market
  • A Farm Business Resilience Plan may reference other supplementary material that supports the plan, for example, a current industry Best Management Practice (BMP) output, a farm biosecurity plan, and/or a succession plan.
  • Personal risks
    • key people
    • workplace health and safety
  • A Farm Business Resilience Plan should identify if these risks need to be managed and if so, also include an Action and/or Implementation Plan for specific activities that have been identified to manage these risks.
  • Production risks
    • biosecurity
    • natural resource management
    • climate and weather

What is eligible for funding?

To be eligible for funding, the project will:

  • involve the purchase and installation of new permanent capital infrastructure
  • improve the ability of the primary production business to prepare , continue to operate,or recover from, drought conditions
  • be a drought preparedness activity listed in your Farm Business Resilience Plan for the primary production business
  • not have commenced the project before the assistance is approved. (Deposits however may be paid for the purchase of materials or engaging contractors up to 90 days before the approval of assistance).

What companies are eligible for funding?

To be eligible for a Drought Preparedness Grant, applicants must:

  • present a Farm Business Resilience Plan.
  • show that any necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained.
  • show at least one person in the primary production business meets the definition of a primary producer.
  • show an ability to provide the remaining contribution to the grant requested.
To be eligible, applicants must not have:
  • previously received a Drought Preparedness Grant for the same project activity.
  • made an application to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry supported by an invoice issued in the past six-month period for assistance under:
    1. a freight subsidy under the Drought Relief Assistance Scheme
    2. the Emergency Water Infrastructure Rebate under the Drought Relief Assistance Scheme

Is this grant competitive or entitlement based?

Competitive. Your application will be assessed among other applications by a judging panel.

How can I increase my chances of winning this grant?

By engaging an accredited government grants consultant, such as Avant Group.

Competitive grants often require significant business case development and project analysis to support the application, this may include detailed presentations supporting the project’s merit, projected sales, cost-benefit analysis and more.

As part of your engagement with Avant Group, your account manager will assess the required documents and will provide the following as needed to support your grant submission.

Grant application writeup including a detailed presentation illustrating how the grant funding will contribute to your project, how the funding will contribute to the project’s budget, a project milestone plan, delivery timeline, impact on employment if applicable and a breakdown of the management and leadership team for the project

  • Industry analysis presentation
  • Competitor Analysis Presentation
  • Marketing and Sales Analysis Presentation
  • 3-5 year Cashflow Forecast
  • 3-5 year Balance Sheet Forecast
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis of Grant Funding
  • End-to-end grant application including information collating, analysis and application writing
  • CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) cost-benefit analysis
  • Stakeholder relations and Risk Mitigation Plans
  • Any other relevant forecasting that will support your application

How can I get help with my application? Or know if I’m likely to win funding?

Avant Group offers a no-obligation assessment of your eligibility for funding and will assess your likelihood of a successful grant application.