The Liberal and Nationals Government has provided funding to two local community
projects in Ballarat under the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants program.
These projects are receiving a total of more than $2.7 million in support.
Nationals Senate Leader and Senator for Victoria, Bridget McKenzie said an interactive
program for local primary school students, as well as bushfire recovery tools and
resources are among the 524 projects funded under the program.
Senator McKenzie said the overall program funding was boosted to $390 million to further
support communities around Australia to recover from the 2019-20 bushfires.
“As part of the $2.1 billion National Bushfire Recovery Fund, the Black Summer Bushfire
Recovery Grants program is backing projects which the affected communities have said
will best support their ongoing recovery,” Senator McKenzie said.
“The grants will fund a broad range of recovery and resilience projects, from social and
community wellbeing right through to projects that support local jobs, small businesses
and infrastructure.
“It was important that we funded projects based on need and merit and which offered a
lasting and tangible impact, tailored to local needs and conditions. The quality of the
projects funded shows that our ‘locally led’ approach works.
“We understand that recovery from bushfires takes time, and we will continue to support
impacted communities through their recovery from the devastating Black Summer
bushfires of 2019-2020.”
Senator McKenzie said local projects funded included:
- $2,542,107 for the DASH! (Dynamic, Active, Safe and Healthy!) program for Years
5 and 6 students and their families to build resilience, holistic well-being, focusing
on activity and safety and creating connections with community supports. - $161,399 for Green Rebuild Toolkit to empower and support fire-ravaged
communities to rebuild their homes in a climate-resilient way.
Details of the funded projects are available on the National Recovery and Resilience
Agency website at: https://recovery.gov.au/programs/black-summer-grants
Media contact:
Senator McKenzie: Blair Arnold | 0448 901 016