Australian farmers and agribusinesses face many challenges. These include drought, natural disasters, and other market disruptions.
The Australian Government and the Australian Banking Association (ABA) are working together to ensure farmers, agribusinesses and the community know that support is always available, with no drought declarations required.
The Australian Government no longer makes drought declarations. You do not need a drought declaration to access support.
This change comes from over 40 years of learning from previous droughts and government reviews. Importantly, it also draws on feedback from farmers, communities and other key stakeholders. The Australian Government now considers enabling and building drought resilience as the most valuable and strategic way to invest. As a result, our programs seek to enable preparedness, risk management and financial self-reliance.
The Australian Government now provides support based on need and individual circumstances. This means a range of support options are always available to help you prepare for, manage through, and recover from drought.
Drought can have widespread impacts on individuals, businesses and communities, and banks are part of the solution. They have dedicated teams ready to support customers experiencing financial pressure.
Banks strongly encourage any customers experiencing financial difficulty to reach out to access their support services and to do so as early as possible.
If you’re worried about money, contact your bank as soon as you can. Your bank is there to help you and talk through your options. The sooner you talk to them, the sooner they can help you find a solution that’s right for you.
You don’t need a drought declaration to get support from your bank or to access Australian Government drought programs.
You can use these resources to find the information you need:
Support is always available – no drought declarations needed.
A partnership between:
