The Liberal and Nationals Government has provided funding to three local community
projects in Bendigo under the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants program.
These projects are receiving a total of $804,095 in support.
Nationals Senate Leader and Senator for Victoria, Bridget McKenzie said the provision of
trauma care workshops, legal assistance, 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 well-being 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:
- $357,000 to deliver a series of trauma care workshops to volunteer and
professional first responders. - $285,696 for ‘Lending a Legal HAND: Helpful Advice following Natural Disaster’,
which will strengthen relationships with local community organisations, including
community legal centres to better identify disaster-related legal problems early and
establish pathways to connect people with legal assistance. - $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