Media releases: 1 October 2024
More than $215,000 awarded to 12 prevention, preparedness and recovery projects
FRRR and Suncorp Group have awarded $216,269 in grants to 12 community projects that will support the ongoing resilience building and recovery efforts of remote, rural and regional Queensland communities impacted by Cyclones Jasper and Kirrily.
It has been almost 10 months since Cyclone Jasper crossed the Far North coast (13 December 2023) causing widespread destruction and nine months since Cyclone Kirrily crossed the North Queensland coast (25 January 2024) and became a state-wide disaster event, as the rain moved south and west causing major flooding (3 February 2024).
Funded through the Rebuilding Futures program, the 12 grants will enable local not-for-profit organisations (NFPs) to invest in community infrastructure and equipment, strengthen organisational capacity and provide improved access to services and activities.
Nina O’Brien, FRRR’s Disaster Resilience & Recovery Lead, said that the timing of these grants is critical as many regional communities are wanting to be proactive and take action to prepare for the upcoming wet season and hopefully mitigate impacts.
“While the weather cannot be prevented, the impact of disasters can be lessened through good planning. For some Queensland community groups, like the Cape York Folk Club, Juunjuwarra Aboriginal Corporation and Mt Garnet Golf Club, those practical activities include cyclone-proofing facilities and upgrading infrastructure to withstand the damage of potential extreme weather events.
“In other places, there is an acceptance that cyclones and excessive rainfall are a part of life, so the focus is on using lessons learnt from the recent events.
“For Surf Life Saving Queensland’s North Barrier and North Queensland Branches, this means building capacity with volunteer training and flood rescue equipment to support and prepare them to respond to their community in future disasters. While Hinchinbrook Community Support Centre and Bloomfield River District Residents Association are finding practical ways to prepare local infrastructure to be sustainable and fit for purpose during a disaster.
“We recognise the diverse recovery and preparedness needs of communities. These needs include social connectedness and wellbeing, and access to timely information in the next disaster.
“Great examples of this include projects like Regional Development Australia Tropical North’s Creative Recovery Preparedness Training, and the Community Information Centre Townsville’s Crisis Response Directory. Both initiatives highlight the need for strong, informed and accessible resources and social networks that offer support mechanisms to help local people and places withstand the extreme challenges they are likely to face when responding to, and recovering from, the next natural disaster.
“Due to remoteness, clean-up is continuing in communities and preventing people from returning to their homes. This funding will support the work of Anglicare North Queensland and Northreach Community Care to ensure those at risk and vulnerable to homeless or food insecurity can access relief programs and other recovery services.”
“In this round of applications, we also saw remote communities and groups looking to join forces to better support their regions’ recovery. These collaborative projects, such as Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC’s Kuku Bakal Kaykayanda (Giving Words to all the Children) initiative, illustrate the varying stages of recovery that communities are at, and the challenges that remote NFPs face when supporting people through the recovery journey.
“All of the funded projects are a great demonstration of the on-the-ground resilience and preparedness mindset of regional Queensland, with communities seeking to ‘build back better’ so that they can sustain their way of life and recover effectively from disaster experiences,” Ms O’Brien explained.
Lisa Harrison, Suncorp Chief Executive Consumer Insurance, said these grants would support community-led recovery projects for regional Queensland communities impacted by severe weather events.
“We are proud to be able to help these communities get back on their feet and recover from Tropical Cyclones Kirrily and Jasper,” Ms Harrison said.
“Recovery from an extreme weather event, like a cyclone or flooding, takes time, and this round of grants from FRRR and Suncorp demonstrates that each community’s journey is different.
“Given it is less than a year since Cyclone Jasper and Cyclone Kirrily reached the Queensland coast, it is understandable that groups are focused on responding to the needs of locals, based on their community’s recovery, preparedness and prevention priorities.”
To date, the Rebuilding Futures program has distributed more than $1.2 million to 74 community NFPs across the country.
The full list of grant recipients and their projects are below.
| Organisation | Project | Location | Grant | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QUEENSLAND | ||||||
| Anglicare North Queensland Limited | On Our Doorstep Improve the ability of local disaster relief organisation to support the community recovering from disaster by extending their food security program with additional supplies. | Cairns | $20,000 | |||
| Bloomfield River District Residents Association Inc | Tin Shed Kitchen Install a kitchen in a local community facility used as an evacuation centre so that it can be utilised to prepare meals during and after disasters. | Ayton | $20,000 | |||
| Cape York Folk Club Incorporated | Flood Proofing Wallaby Creek Festival Upgrade communication equipment, waterproof storage units and access roads to mitigate future flood risk, thereby supporting a local community event. | Rossville | $19,192 | |||
| Community Information Centre Townsville Inc | Crisis Response Directory Improve functionality of a local disaster recovery database to improve community accessibility. | Townsville | $20,000 | |||
| Hinchinbrook Community Support Centre Inc | Powering our Community Boost the operation and sustainability of a community service organisation by installing solar panels. | Ingham | $20,000 | |||
| Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC | Kuku Bakal Kaykayanda (Giving Words to all the Children) - Giving Voice to Children and Young People for Healing in Disaster Recovery Host creative programs for young people to deepen understanding of disaster recovery experiences and assist the community's recovery process. | Wujal Wujal | $20,000 | |||
| Juunjuwarra Aboriginal Corporation | Juunjuwarra Ranger Station Establish a facility for the Rangers to support their roles in disaster response and future environmental management, in partnership with local council. | Starcke River | $20,000 | |||
| Mt Garnet Golf Club Inc | Replacement of Roofing on Club House Strengthen community resilience by repairing community facilities with the latest cyclone-resistant materials to protect ongoing operations. | Mount Garnet | $17,000 | |||
| Northreach Community Care Ltd | NCC Ltd Food Relief Program Build organisation's ability to support community members recovery from disaster by upgrading a meeting space. | Kirwan | $12,255 | |||
| Regional Arts Services Network Tropical North on behalf of Regional Development Australia Tropical North | Creative Recovery Preparedness Training Train community leaders to collaboratively design a creative recovery strategy that boosts the community's disaster preparedness. | Cairns | $13,610 | |||
| Surf Life Saving Queensland North Barrier Branch Inc | Strengthening Disaster Response and Preparedness for SLSQ North Barrier Branch Foster resilience and readiness so communities can recover faster from future disasters and better mitigate risks. | South Townsville | $17,562 | |||
| Surf Life Saving Queensland North Queensland Branch Inc | Disaster Preparedness and Response Enhancement for SLSQ North Queensland Branch Support prevention and preparedness in equipping lifesavers with the skills and equipment to respond and support their community in times of natural disaster and emergency. | Smithfield | $16,650 | |||
