The program will establish 7 Drought Resilience Hubs (Hubs) across Australia, with the vision to build drought resilience across the drought cycle by connecting farmers and communities to regional experts, innovations, new practices and services.

The objectives of the program are:

• to facilitate the delivery of place-based extension and adoption activities with a realistic prospect of impact
• strong collaboration across the 7 Hubs, with Australian, state and territory governments, Research and Development Corporations and other relevant bodies
• robust governance frameworks that enable efficient, effective delivery with strong transparency and accountability mechanisms to build stakeholder trust.

The outcomes of the program are:

• increased farmer and community understanding of drought-resilient practices, innovations and services
• increased adoption of drought-resilient practices by farmers and regional and rural communities
• improved analysis and understanding by Hubs, Hub partners and government policymakers of drought-resilient extension and adoption gaps in the service region and identification of place-based solutions
• improved collaborative planning and delivery of drought-resilient activities between Hubs, state and territory governments, Research and Development Corporations, and industry/community stakeholders
• improved linkages between farmers and communities' research needs and experts and researchers to support co-designed research solutions.

Up to $86.7 million (GST exclusive) is available from 2026-27 to 2031-32 for this grant opportunity.

• It is anticipated that most grants will be between $11 million (GST exclusive) to $13.5 million (GST exclusive), depending on the scope of the grant activity and its complexity according to the geographic region.
• Funding available in 2026-27 is for the purpose of supporting regional needs assessments, strategic planning and Hub start up activities.
• Funding from 1 July 2027 (2027-28) onwards is to support all eligible activities of the Hubs, with an emphasis on on-ground outcomes.
• There is no maximum grant amount, but grants cannot exceed the amount of available funds. Additional funding may become available to support Hub activities.

To be eligible, you must be one of the following entity types:

• Company
• Cooperative
• Corporate Commonwealth Entity
• Corporate State or Territory Entity
• Incorporated Association
• Indigenous Corporation.

If you are applying as a Trustee on behalf of a Trust, the Trustee must be one of the eligible entity
type as listed above.

• Email: support@communitygrants.gov.au
• Website: https://www.communitygrants.gov.au/contact-us