$268 million budget announcement to protect against impacts of extreme weather

NIBA welcomes the Federal Government’s 2022-23 budget announcement of $268 million to protect Australians from the impacts of extreme weather.

$150 million per year has been allocated in the 2022-23 budget to the Government’s Emergency Response Fund (ERF) for recovery and post-disaster activities to support affected communities over the next two years. The ERF will deliver additional recovery and post-disaster resilience projects in the heavily impacted Northern Rivers region of NSW.

This funding is in addition to the $75 million that the Queensland and NSW Governments will each receive from the ERF in 2021-22 to spend on projects, where funding is most needed, in agreement with the Federal Government.

The 2022-23 budget also includes:

• $800,000 for the Regional Small Business Support Program to support small businesses impacted by the recent flood event in NSW and Queensland in two Rural Financial Counselling Service regions until 30 June 2023.
• $116.4 million boost for the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grant Program, funding 524 community projects with a total program investment of $390 million.
• $1.7 million to Emergency Management Australia to integrate with the National Resource Sharing Centre, to better share resources and capability information across states and territories and the Commonwealth during large-scale disasters.

$10 million has also been allocated to support the mental health of school-aged children in the Northern Rivers region affected by the recent flood event. This will be provided over a 4-year period from 2021-22.