Future Drought Fund: Drought Resilience Innovation Challenges Pilot Program

Opening soon
Funding up to $2M is available
The grant opportunity is expected to be open for up to 11 weeks
Activities must be completed by 30 June 2028

The Drought Resilience Innovation Challenges Pilot Program, part of the Future Drought Fund, provides funding of up to $2 million per project. It supports initiatives that improve natural capital, enhance biodiversity, and build drought resilience in agricultural landscapes.

Key Requirements

Applicants must deliver evidence-based projects that generate environmental benefits while supporting productive and drought-resilient farming systems. They must:

Must demonstrate how activities will improve biodiversity and landscape function
Collaborate with regional stakeholders and landholders is encouraged
Be completed within the funding period and include monitoring and evaluation components
Be completed by 30 June 2028

Projects must also provide solutions to one of more of the following challenges:

Advancing Natural Capital and Biodiversity for Drought Preparedness and Resilience.
Innovating Water Management for Enhanced Drought Resilience in Australian Agriculture.
National Innovation for Enhancing Community Resilience to Drought in Australian Agricultural Regions.

What is eligible for funding?

Funding supports a range of on-ground and planning activities that integrate environmental and agricultural resilience outcomes, including:

Restoration of native vegetation, water systems and soil health
Activities that increase ecosystem services, such as pollination or water retention
Pilot projects that test scalable drought resilience approaches
Data collection and monitoring to assess environmental outcomes
Capacity building and knowledge sharing
Fast-tracking innovative and transformational solutions, at or above the applied research stage, to one or more drought and climate challenges listed below
Providing a strong evidence base for scaling up of adoption of these solutions
Involving a consortium of project partners including farmers or farming organisations.

What companies are eligible for funding?

The program is open to a wide range of organisations with relevant expertise and delivery capacity, including:

Natural resource management organisations
Farmer groups, Landcare groups and Indigenous land management organisations
Research institutions and universities
Not-for-profits and regional development bodies
State, territory or local government entities with relevant partnerships

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.

This grant is open

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