Regional Drought Resilience Planning

	Recipient	Project	Description	Requested $	Location
1	Sprout Tas	2025 Survey and Sector Strengthening: annual statewide survey	This statewide project will run the third bi-annual survey of small-scale producers. The survey will explore challenges, trends, and support needs across Tasmania’s small-scale producer sector, especially around drought preparedness and climate resilience, with the results informing further activities as part of the project.	$60,000	Statewide
2	Flinders Island Council	Furneaux Save Water Challenge	A fun, four-week challenge to encourage households, businesses and young people to save water. With many residents relying on tanks and low town supplies, the challenge offers simple weekly actions to reduce water use. Participants will be able to track progress with a booklet and will have access to online resources, tips, and idea-sharing.	$16,000	Flinders Island
3	Dorset Community House	Connected, Drought-Ready Dorset: community connections outreach program	This project aims to build a more informed and connected community in remote parts of Dorset. An outreach worker will work to engage residents, reduce barriers, and strengthen connections. Activities will include information sessions, local media, social media, and partnerships with community groups.	$20,000	Scottsdale (Dorset)
4	Farmers for Climate Action	Good feed and practical presentations: farmer workshops and education	The Tasmanian Farmer Network will host 3–5 half-day workshops. Farmers will learn practical leadership and advocacy skills from agricultural leaders, negotiators, and climate adaptation specialists.	$8,000	Northern Tas
5	MacKillop Family Services	Seasons for Growth: change, loss and grief program training for professionals	Teachers and wellbeing staff will be trained to deliver small group programs helping primary school children cope with the changes and losses linked to drought and climate risk. These include challenges such as economic hardship, relocation, or family stress. Students will build skills in finding support and strengthening relationships, increasing their confidence and resilience.	$13,200	Northern Tas
6	The Men's Table Limited	Resilient Healthy Communities for Tasmania: mens table network activity	A Men’s Table will be established in Northern Tasmania to create supportive networks for local men. This mental health and suicide prevention initiative strengthens wellbeing for men, their families, and the wider community.	$15,000	George Town (relocation)
7	Deloraine House Inc	Mole Creek Community Garden Wicking Beds	Three new wicking beds and a volunteer workshop will improve the garden’s ability to grow food in dry conditions. The project will encourage conversations about water-wise gardening and community drought preparedness.	$10,000	Mole Creek
8	Northern Midlands Council	Drought Ready Northern Midlands: Dry Times, Strong Communities (community workshops and awareness raising)	Workshops and site visits will bring together community members, farmers, and experts to co-develop local drought and climate resilience “storylines.” These storylines will guide community-led planning in Campbell Town, Fingal, Ross, Avoca, and farming townships across the Northern Midlands.	$16,000	Campbell Town and surrounds
9	Northern Midlands Council	From Paddock to Town: Stories of Strength and Resilience (community story project on building drought resilience)	This project will bring together local communities to create shared “storylines” about drought and climate resilience. Guided by the Longford Drought Awareness Group, a series of workshops and site visits will explore the social, economic, and environmental impacts of drought. Storylines will be turned into videos, infographics, and other digital resources that can be accessed by others in the community.	$15,950	Perth and surrounds
10	pakana service	Miena Cider Gum (threatened species) insurance population establishment at Cockatoo Hills	This project is for First Nations (not for profit) business, pakana services, to plant up to 50 Miena Cider Gum at Cockatoo Hills. The project will also include a First Nation four-day educational camp for Rosny College’s 'Rosny Mob', to showcase Miena Cider Gum management issues.	$17,875	St Patrick Plains, Central Highlands
11	Central Highlands Council	Future-proofing the Central Highlands agricultural workforce to climate and drought impacts: childcare options study	This project funds the development of a childcare options paper that will outline future service delivery options, and create a five-year strategic childcare plan, with a focus on supporting the agricultural sector.	$19,763	Bothwell
12	Okines Community House Inc	Growing our Resilience: enhancements to community garden for drought resilience and education	Located within one of the driest towns in Tasmania, drought and climate resilience are very important issues for the local community. This project will improve community garden infrastructure to cope better with dry conditions and climate variabilities (irrigation system and rainwater tanks), serving as a demonstration site for water wise practice.	$17,132	Dodges Ferry
13	Southern Beaches Landcare Coastcare Inc	The Saltbush Line: Okines Beach Dune Restoration and community education	This project will rehabilitate degraded sand dunes at Okines Beach in Dodges Ferry/Lewisham. By using saltwater-based agricultural practices to grow endemic saltbush, this project will reduce reliance on freshwater while stabilising the coastal landscape. The project will include hands-on workshops, storytelling, and community-led learning.	$10,000	Okines Beach, Dodges Ferry
14	Derwent Catchment Project Inc	Voices of Resilience: local podcast development	Voices of Resilience will capture and share stories of drought, climate change, and resilience from farmers and community members in the Central Highlands and Derwent Valley. A podcast series will capture and share these stories to build knowledge and connection.	$13,000	Derwent Valley/ Central Highlands
15	Southern Midlands Council	Southern Midlands Farmer Group: Establishing Foundational Governance for Drought Resilience	This project will fund critical governance skills training and the development of a constitution for the emerging Southern Midlands Farmer Group.	$5,335	Southern Midlands
16	Regenerative Agriculture Network Tasmania	On the Ground: Learning from Drought Resilient Farms (farmer site visits and workshops)	Partnering with farmers who successfully managed recent dry seasons, this project will showcase proven strategies through case studies and farm walks.	$19,615	Southern Tasmania
17	Sorell Council	Madison Lyden Park Rainwater Harvesting and Resilient Landscape Upgrade	This project will cover the installation of rainwater harvesting tanks and the creation of a drought-resilient native landscape at the Madison Lyden Park public toilet facility currently under construction.	$20,000	Madison Lyden Park, Sorell
18	Bicheno Landcare Inc.	Resilient Bicheno weed and landscape restoration	This project will focus on the removal of invasive weeds, reduce fire risk, conserve rare and endangered indigenous plants and animals and enhance the foreshore reserve amenity.	$20,000	Bicheno
19	King Island Landcare Group	Best practice dam enhancement and water management on King Island	An existing dam will be upgraded and used as a training site for farmers to learn best practice water management, improving the island’s resilience to drought.	$19,805	King Island
20	TasFarmers	Investigating future water security for the Marrawah-Redpa region: prefeasibility study	This project is for a pre-feasibility study to assess demand and options for an irrigation scheme to support farm diversification in the Marrawah-Redpa region, an area with low rainfall and drought risk.	$20,000	Marrawah-Redpa
21	TasFarmers	King Island Wallaby Management Workshop	A collaborative workshop for landholders to share best-practice management approaches and local experiences in managing browsing pressure from wallabies, supporting improved management and greater resilience to drought.	$15,000	King Island
22	Live Well Tasmania	Climate Change workshops: educating and inspiring the Waratah-Wynyard Community	Six workshops will be co-designed and delivered by young people to inspire their peers to take climate resilience action.	$19,522	Wynyard
23	Lorinna Landcare Inc	Lorinna Landscape Resilience: biochar kiln and mobile water tank	The purchase of a mobile water pod and biochar system to help local community preparedness for drought and reduce bushfire risk.	$16,000	Lorinna
24	TasFarmers	Red Meat Drought Transport and Biosecurity Toolkit: Climate, Compliance, and Welfare	This project will develop a practical toolkit, both in print and online formats, for red meat and Dairy producers and processors in North-West Tasmania. The toolkit will focus on critical areas including fit-to-load decisions during drought, feed cost calculators, water quality and quantity management, truck hygiene, and biosecurity control points.	$20,000	North-West (Burnie)
25	Circular Head Council	Resilient and Ready: regional roadshow activities	Resilient and Ready Roadshows will travel to remote farming areas to raise awareness of supports available to agricultural communities and businesses facing drought. Events will feature expert speakers, industry professionals and mental health service providers.	$20,000	Circular Head

Part of the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, the Regional Drought Resilience Planning (RDRP) Program aims to help communities across Australia be better prepared for and resilient to the impacts of future drought and climate variability events, through the development and implementation of regional drought resilience plans. Being better prepared will mean droughts and other climatic events will have less impact and will ensure we continue to thrive.

In Tasmania, three regional plans were developed for the north, north-west and southern areas of the state as part of phase one of the program. Phase two (2025-2029) will focus on implementing and refining the regional plans while working with regional groups to deliver the program.

Currently, there is $1.3 million available for the implementation across all plans. This includes $330,000 ($110,000 per region) from the federal government, and a further $1 million from the state government, to be rolled out as part of phase 2 (2025-2029).

Key goals and action areas detailed in the plans will be used to guide how implementation funding is spent. Projects funded from the Drought Ready Tasmania program must also align with the Future Drought Fund’s Determination 2024-28 mandatory principles

Communities and organisations are also encouraged to source other avenues of funding to help in the implementation of projects identified by the plans.

The Regional Drought Resilience Planning Program will continue for the life of the Future Drought Fund.

Consultation to shape the regional drought resilience plans began in 2023. The three regional plans were finalised and approved in June 2025, and delivery is now underway.

The first round of the Drought Ready Tasmania grants program - Quick Wins - has been awarded, with 25 projects from across Tasmania receiving funding.

Planning is now underway for the second phase of the program (2025–2029).

Over the next four years, the Tasmanian RDRP program will focus on delivering key drought and climate resilience initiatives captured in the plans, and refining elements of the plans to ensure they continue to reflect communitiy needs and regional drought and climate risks.

Key areas of focus include:

Delivering against priority action areas that are common across multiple regional drought resilience plans (see these priorities below)
Strengthening partnerships and collaboration with key organisations
Transitioning toward regional program governance and delivery over time.

We will do this through grant programs, engagement activities and capacity development initiatives.

The regional plans share several common action areas. Shared action areas in the plans that are expected to have the greatest impact and will guide phase two of the program are summarised below.

Supply chains and food networks: Strengthen regional supply chains and food systems by identifying vulnerabilities and recommending solutions.
Freight and biosecurity: Conduct regional or statewide assessments to identify freight and biosecurity vulnerabilities and recommend solutions.
Integrated landscape-wide management: Expand landscape-wide drought and climate change management plans to consider long-term drought and climate variability impacts on biodiversity and natural values.
Ecological research and interventions: Research significant ecological communities vulnerable to drought, to understand effects of different interventions on improving species and landscape resilience.
Conservation investment: Invest in targeted conservation action for at-risk species and ecosystems.
Sustainable land management: Expand education, technical support and incentives that help landholders adopt environmentally sustainable practices.
Aboriginal knowledge: Recognise and share Tasmanian Aboriginal cultural knowledge and land practices, including on-country activities such as cultural burning.
Fire resilience: Improve fire management resources, training and infrastructure.
Critical infrastructure: Assess and strengthen regional energy, water and transport infrastructure to withstand climate risks and maintain essential services.
Communication systems: Improve digital connectivity and reduce communication blackspots.
Market diversification: Explore opportunities to diversify regional markets.
Mental health training: Provide specialised training to help communities respond to mental health challenges linked to drought and climate variability.
Climate adaptation coordination: Strengthen collaboration between government, industry and communities to deliver unified climate adaptation strategies.

The RDRP program is community led and owned – this means that we all need to work together to progress the actions areas captured in the plans, to build our resilience to drought and climate related events.

For phase two, the Drought Ready Tas team will continue to be hosted by Resilience and Recovery Tasmania (DPAC), while we explore a suitable longer-term regional governance and administration arrangement.

You, your organisation and community can be part of implementation by:

Participating in a grant opportunity
Joining a funded project in your area (check out our current Quick Wins recipients)
Sharing knowledge and collaborating on a project idea through engagement activities.

Community groups, not-for-profits, private sector and government organisations can also use the plans at any time to supoprt funding applications and to help shape their policies and projects so that we are all working towards shared drought resilience goals.

Drought is a recurring feature of the Australian landscape. It is forecast to become more frequent, severe and longer lasting in many regions as the climate changes.

While there is no one definition of drought, for the purpose of Tasmania’s regional drought resilience plans, drought is defined as ‘a prolonged, abnormally dry period when the amount of available water is insufficient to meet our normal use’ (Bureau of Meteorology 2024). Because of this, drought means and look different depending on the region.

As drought is a major risk across all of Tasmania, we need to plan so that we can reduce the negative impacts of drought. It causes significant financial, social and environmental impacts for people, primary producers, other businesses and the community.

For drought resilience planning in Tasmania, community drought resilience means how well we can come together to address our vulnerabilities and use our strengths to prepare for, adapt to and recover from challenges while maintaining or even improving our overall collective wellbeing.

The plans identify community connection and cooperation among people and organisations as important elements for achieving resilience. A strong economy, well cared-for landscape and well-planned infrastructure also contribute to drought resilience. The plans aim to set out practical steps to work towards achieving these.

Discuss your involvement with the team by emailing resilience@dpac.tas.gov.au