The Disaster Ready Fund is an Australian Government initiative that will deliver up to $200 million in funding over five years from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2028, to fund projects that support natural disaster resilience and risk reduction.

Round Four of the DRF will build on previous rounds by providing up to $142.477 million for natural disaster risk reduction and resilience initiatives in 2026-27.

The objectives of the program are to:

• increase the understanding of natural disaster impacts, as a first step towards reducing the risk of future natural disaster impacts,
• increase the resilience, adaptive capacity and/or preparedness of governments, community service organisations and affected communities to future natural disasters to minimise the potential impact of natural hazards and reduce the risk of future natural disasters, and
• reduce the exposure to risk, harm and/or severity of a future natural disaster's impacts, including reducing the recovery burden for governments, cohorts at disproportionate risk, and/or affected communities.

Only Australian state and territory governments, through Lead Agencies, are eligible to submit Applications to NEMA for DRF funding in Round Four 2026-27. However, any entity that satisfies the eligibility criteria in sections 4.2 and 4.3 may develop a Project Proposal and submit that proposal to a Lead Agency for its consideration. Eligible entities who develop Project Proposals are referred to in these guidelines as Applicants.

• Email: disasterresiliencegrants@dfes.wa.gov.au