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 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, we are developing three regional plans for the north, north west and southern areas of the state. Based on your stories, feedback and ideas, plans will explore areas of risk and impact and importantly, will provide a roadmap of actions to prepare for and manage future drought and climate variability events.

There is approximately $2.5 million available for the development of plans, jointly funded by state and federal governments. There is also a further $1.3 million available for implementation, primarily funded by the Tasmanian Government.

Consultation with Tasmanian communities to inform the development of the regional drought resilience plans started in late 2023. Regional Project Coordinators are currently exploring with communities ideas and initiatives to help better plan for and reduce the impact of future drought events. Feedback we receive will directly shape the plans.

Plans are expected to be drafted by late 2024. There will be an opportunity for you to provide feedback on your plan’s draft strategic actions and initiatives.

Plans are expected to be approved by both state and federal governments in the first half of 2025. Formal implementation of the plans will occur once plans have been approved.

Regional drought resilience plans need to be community led and owned. The project team are making sure this happens by working closely with regional project advisory groups. There is one group per region and groups provide guidance on plan vision, goals and strategic priorities for future funding. In addition, broader consultation opportunities are underway in all regions to capture the views and ideas of a broad range of community members.

Plans will be implemented following state and federal government approvals in 2025. Once finalised, plans will be used to guide future drought preparedness funding across Tasmania.

Although we’re still finalising the implementation approach, a portion of the implementation funding will go towards a small grants program to allow local organisations an opportunity to trial a project or idea that’s captured in the plans. Further information will be made available in the coming months.

Currently, there is $1.3 million available for the implementation of all plans. This includes $100,000 per region from the federal government, and a further $1 million from the state government, to be shared across all regions.

Action and project priorities detailed in the plans will be used to directly guide how implementation funding is spent.

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

Regional drought resilience plans are for current life of the Future Drought Fund.

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.