Strengthening Rural Communities – Prepare & Recover

The Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) Prepare & Recover program supports communities in remote, rural and regional communities across Australia to implement initiatives that prevent and prepare for future climate related impacts, or recover from existing disasters in the medium to long-term timeframe, generally one to ten years after the disaster.

Grants up to $25,000 are available for a broad range of initiatives. Priority will be given to projects that:

  • Respond to a specific climate impact or event, either historic or likely to occur in the future;
  • Focus on community-led resilience building in recovery or preparedness to strengthen the capacity and capability of local people and systems, especially to manage the impact of future disasters, through: inclusion; networks; communication; information sharing; self-organising systems; local decision making; or resourcing, tools and support;
  • Are from local community groups and not-for-profits or organisations that do not have DGR status.

FRRR also wants to support projects that:

  • Invest in outback, remote and less-resourced communities where they may be more highly impacted by disasters;
  • Support First Nations-led initiatives that strengthen culture, Country, economic participation and reconciliation;
  • Support communities to implement generational transition; and
  • Build capacity and resourcing for a just and equitable energy transition.

If you want to discuss a project to support disaster preparedness, resilience or recovery, please call us on 1800 170 020.

NOTE: There are three streams of funding available within the Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) program: Prepare and Recover and Small and Vital (including Larger Leverage). Organisations may submit their application in only one of these streams per SRC grant round, and any other applications in this round will be considered.

If your project does not relate to a Prepare & Recover project, please complete an SRC Small & Vital application.

Future rounds

Round 29
Opens: 25 March 2026
Closes: 24 June 2026
Funding announced by the end of September 2026

Explore other streams in the Strengthening Rural Communities program:

How to apply for
SRC Prepare & Recover

Please read the information on each of the three tabs below to make sure this is the right grant for your project.

If you want to explore other grant options, please go to Find Funding Now.

I have a question, who can I talk to?

Our state-based Grants Officers are your go-to people for any program-related queries for the SRC program.

  • QLD / NT / WA: Amanda Gunders
  • NSW / ACT: Jaclyn Troy
  • VIC / TAS / SA: Vivienne McCrory

Ph: 1800 170 020 or Email: [email protected]

Confirm you are eligible to apply for this grant

To make sure this is the right grant for your community, please read the grant information detailed in the Program Guidelines below carefully. Click on each headline to reveal the detail. If you need to share this information with others, you can download the guidelines below.

Download the Program Guidelines

SRC Prepare & Recover aims to support projects that:

  • Assist communities prevent and prepare for, respond to, or recover from disasters, weather events or climate impacts;
  • Demonstrate broad community benefit, are locally determined, support collaboration and build capacity for the future;
  • Build networks or resources so that local communities can share information, increase climate related knowledge, and strengthen social connection;
  • Aim to ‘build back better’ infrastructure following a disaster event, accounting for historical and future climate risks;
  • Recognise First Nations knowledge and strengthen cultural practices to foster healing, connection and care for Country; and
  • Have limited ability to attract funds from other donors or government.

FRRR funds projects that align with the following types of charitable projects and outcomes:

  • Invest in outback, remote and less-resourced communities where they may be more highly impacted by disasters or future climate impacts;
  • Support First Nations-led initiatives that strengthen culture, Country, economic participation and self-determination;
  • Support communities to implement generational transition; and
  • Build capacity and resourcing for a just and equitable energy transition.

Yes, SRC Prepare & Recover is a national program with funding available in remote, rural and regional areas in all States and Territories for a broad range of initiatives that focus on community-led resilience building in recovery or preparedness to strengthen the capacity and capability of local people and systems, especially to manage the impact of future disasters.

These grants are available thanks to the generous support of the donors listed at the bottom of this page.

Grants up to $25,000 are available for

a broad range of initiatives. Priority will be given to projects that:

  • Respond to  a specific climate impact or event, either historic or likely to occur in the future;
  • Focus on community-led resilience building in recovery or preparedness to strengthen the capacity and capability of local people and systems to manage the impact of future disasters, through: inclusion; networks; communication; information sharing; self-organising systems; local decision making; or resourcing, tools and support; and
  • Are from local community groups and not-for-profits or organisations that do not have DGR status.

FRRR also wants to support projects that:

  • Invest in outback, remote, and less-resourced communities where they may be more highly impacted by disasters or future climate impacts;
  • Support First Nations-led initiatives that strengthen culture, country, economic participation, and self-determination;
  • Support communities to implement generational transition; and
  • Build capacity and resourcing for a just and equitable energy transition.

A broad range of charitable activities are considered under this program, including:

  • Delivering or providing projects, events, programs, initiatives and services;
  • Purchasing or hiring equipment and materials;
  • Community infrastructure;
  • Activities and resources that will strengthen your organisation or local networks (capacity building);
  • Proportionate costs associated with staffing as required to deliver the activity.

There are several areas that we can’t fund through this program. If in doubt, please contact us.

  • Projects that support core business and areas of responsibility of Federal, State and Local Governments;
  • Solely ongoing core organisational operational costs (e.g. rent, utilities, regular wages, loan repayments);
  • The encouragement or advancement of sport, recreation, and social activities are not considered charitable activities under Australian law. Applications from sporting organisations need to clearly demonstrate charitable outcomes and benefit to the wider community that are above and beyond the sporting activities of the club;
  • Overseas travel and overseas projects;
  • Prizes, gifts, trophies, or awards;
  • Political lobbying;
  • Projects that primarily benefit private business, a sole trader, or private interests;
  • Projects solely focused on animal welfare; and
  • Initiatives relating to pandemic recovery, mice plagues, other environmental disease, economic disruptions, or other events causing significant community impacts.

To apply, your organisation must meet the following criteria:

  • Applicant organisations must be a not-for-profit organisation with either an Incorporation Certificate and/or an ABN. If you are unsure if your organisation is a registered not-for-profit (for example, if you are a Co-operative, Other Unincorporated Entity, Public Company or Trust), please contact FRRR;
  • There are three streams of funding available within the Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) Program: Small and Vital (including Larger Leverage) and Prepare and Recover. Organisations may submit their application in only one of these streams per SRC grant round, and any other applications in this round will be considered ineligible;
  • Project must be for charitable purposes and offer clear public benefit;
  • Organisations with or without DGR endorsement are eligible;
  • Organisations can submit one application per grant round;
  • Projects must benefit communities in remote, rural, or regional Australia.

Please note, you will be considered ineligible if the:

  • Application is submitted by individuals, sole traders, private or commercial businesses (as per the submitted ABN);
  • Application is submitted by an organisation that is not a legal entity, without the written consent of the governing / partnering body who holds the ABN / Incorporation number;
  • Application is submitted without required financial information (see additional information on the second tab);
  • Final report/s from any FRRR grants awarded in the previous seven years have not been acquitted (delivery organisations should check with the legal organisation to see if there are any outstanding final reports);
  • Application is for a project or activity that has already occurred / is occurring prior to the announcement of funding;
  • Application is incomplete. NOTE: Due to the volume of applications received, applications are assessed based on the documentation received at the time of application. FRRR is unlikely to follow up missing documentation after applications have been submitted.
  • Disaster: A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society at any scale due to hazardous events interacting with conditions of exposure, vulnerability, and capacity, leading to one or more of the following: human, material, economic and environmental losses, and impacts. This can include climate related conditions, such as drought, heatwaves, and bushfire; earthquake; flood; storm; cyclone; storm surge; landslide; tsunami; meteorite strike; or tornado.
  • Disaster Prevention: Activities and measures taken to avoid or reduce existing and new disaster risks and climate-related impacts.
  • Disaster Preparedness: Knowledge and activities undertaken in advance that help individuals, communities or organisations get ready and make plans to cope with the effects of a disaster.
  • Disaster Recovery: Both a process and an outcome. As a process, recovery is coming to terms with the impacts of a disaster and managing the disruptions and changes caused, which can result in a new way of living. As an outcome, recovery is restoring or improving a disaster-affected community to make it stronger should a disaster occur again.
  • Disaster Risk: The potential loss of life, injury, or destroyed or damaged assets which could occur to a system, society, or a community as a function of hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and capacity.
  • Resilience: The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform, and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions through risk management.
Gather information to support your grant application

Please read the information below to support the planning and preparation of your project. It also sets out what you MUST include for your project to be considered. There are plenty of helpful resources to support you along the way.

Please contact FRRR if you have any questions about the following information.

Your grant application MUST include:

Every application needs to include an organisation that holds either an ABN or Incorporation Certificate. If your organisation doesn’t have that, FRRR may still fund the project but you need another organisation’s support, which we refer to as the ‘legal organisation’ (with your organisation being the delivery organisation). This situation often occurs when the organisation delivering the activity or project is a branch of an overarching organisation – such as a local CWA or YMCA branch. In this case, the CWA or YMCA would be the legal organisation.

Even though your organisation may complete the application (and will be doing the work), it’s the ‘legal organisation’s’ legal and financial information that needs to be provided. They also need to provide a letter from the legal entity, confirming they are willing to play this role, with a template available here for your convenience.

FRRR conducts a broad range of due diligence queries when reviewing applications, such as: reviewing current and past incorporation, DGR and ACNC status. If your organisation has happened to have their incorporation status, DGR status or ACNC status changed or ACNC registration revoked or voluntarily withdrawn, please let us know the reasons for this.

Applications from ACNC and/or unincorporated associations are required to submit their organisation’s Constitution.

Why is this important?

This program is only able to distribute funds to not-for-profit organisations with an ABN or Incorporation Certificate, and FRRR needs to know that the organisation with that ABN / Incorporation number understands and agrees to carry out their responsibilities in relation to your project, if successful.

Applications received without the requested financial information are ineligible. Providing incorrect financial information is currently the most common reason why applications are not able to be considered. You must include the organisation’s:

  • Annual income (total income in your financial year);
  • Annual expenditure (total expenses in your financial year); and
  • Current assets (from your audited financials, or bank balance minus any debts).

Please note:

  • Provide a brief explanation of any large financial surplus or current assets and reasons why FRRR funds are still required;
  • If financial information is more than 18 months old, please provide an explanation as to why the organisation does not have more recent documents;
  • Please explain any deficits and steps to sustain the organisation financially;

Please contact us if you cannot provide required financials or you are unsure about what to provide.

Why is this important?

FRRR uses this information to understand your organisation’s financial viability and ability to manage grant funds.

You must include a project budget that clearly shows the items that FRRR grant funds would be used for and that also shows all income and expenses related to your project.

Budgets should be realistic and must add up – i.e. total expenditure must match total income.

Applicant contributions in cash or in-kind are highly regarded. Quotes or detailed rationale for items over $1,000 are required, where possible. Note: FRRR suggests costing unskilled volunteer labour at $45 per hour.

For more info on costing volunteer labour, visit: https://explore.fundingcentre.com.au/help-sheets/valuing-volunteer-labour

Why is this important?

A clear budget helps FRRR to understand the size of your project, exactly how FRRR funds will be spent and helps demonstrate community support for your project through in-kind contributions either from your organisation or partners / community members.

Helpful resources:

FRRR strongly recommends that you provide supporting materials such as letters of support, evidence of permission from the property owner, community plans, survey results, photographs, media clips and research reports that can show broad community support and partnerships involved in the project. For more information on supporting documentation, watch this recording.

Large documents should be referenced and explained in the application.

Why is this important?

FRRR seeks to fund projects that are well-supported by the broader local community, are locally-led and delivered, show good partnerships and benefit multiple parts of the community. As FRRR is not always familiar with your community, our staff consider support material as evidence toward understanding the level of community need, benefit and support.

Helpful resources:

Each application is assessed on its ability to address local priorities and benefit the broader community. A clear description of exactly what the grant funds will be used for, when and where the project will happen, who will benefit and who will be involved in delivering the project, why the project and grant funds are needed, how funds will be spent and how the activities and success of the project will be recorded, evaluated and shared.

Where possible, we encourage you to make it really clear that your organisation is ready and able to deliver the project and, if required, provide ongoing support for the initiative.

Why is this important?

FRRR needs to clearly understand your project to assess its merits. Applicants should focus on addressing the what, when, where, who, why and how of the project, as this is the best way to clearly communicate the details of the project.

A ready community is best placed to achieve the aims of your project, so during assessment, our staff look for information that tells us that good leadership, skills and awareness exist in your community to support the project now and in the future.

Helpful resources:

We have grouped the kinds of projects communities commonly ask us to help fund into seven areas, which we call the Activity Tree:

1. Building community resilience
2. Developing organisational resilience and capacity
3. Enhancing environmental sustainability
4. Fostering cultural vibrancy
5. Lifelong learning and education
6. Economic strength
7. Improving community health and social wellbeing

We ask you to nominate one of those seven areas when you apply. So, before you lodge your application, download the Activity Tree to help you identify your focus area.

Why is this important?

FRRR makes grants to communities, but we also need to be able to demonstrate to our funding partners where communities need support.

Important notes for successful grantees

To receive the grant funds, successful grantees (the legal entity) must have a bank account registered under the organisation’s name. Without a bank account, the grant funds cannot be disbursed, and the grantee will not receive the funds.

When the project is complete, the grantees will be required to provide a Project Report on the project’s activities, impacts and outcomes, and include a financial acquittal of your grant. Project reporting is an opportunity for the organisation to reflect on and celebrate what has been achieved and to share learnings.

Grantees have up to 12 months for Small & Vital projects (grants up to $10,000) and 18 months for Larger Leverage projects (grants up to $50,000) to deliver the project. The online Project Report is due 8 weeks after project completion.

Organisations with an overdue Project Report are NOT ELIGIBLE to apply for further FRRR funding until the report is received. If the Project Report is not received, the applicant organisation may be suspended from applying for any FRRR grant programs until it is supplied.

Need some more help?

We have a large selection of resources on our Grantseeker Resources page to help you along the way.

FRRR has moved to a new online granting system called Blackbaud Grants Portal. All applications must be submitted via this system.

Applications close on 24 March 2026 at 5pm VIC time (AEDT).

Please contact FRRR if you have questions about any aspect of the Blackbaud Grants Portal online application system.

To access any active grants you have with FRRR, click on the Login button at the top right of this page.

Apply now for grants up to $25K
Return to your current application here

Helpful resources:

It is time to submit your application. If it is helpful, you can download a sample copy of the application form.

Before you submit your application online via the Blackbaud Grants Portal, please ensure you have:

  • Confirmed you are eligible to apply for this grant
  • Provided clear information about your project
  • Checked that you are an eligible legal entity
  • Provided the financial information required
  • Created a budget for the project
  • Gathered supporting materials
  • Spoken to an FRRR contact person where you were unsure of any requirement
  • Gathered community support for the project
  • Checked the information you are providing to make sure it is clear and relevant to the project

If you have significant issues accessing a stable internet connection, please contact our team to discuss an alternative way of applying:
Ph: 1800 170 020 or Email: [email protected]

“This inaugural grant success holds deep significance for our remote rural community. While the funding is specifically for materials for the construction of retaining walls and raised garden beds, these seemingly simple structures are vital foundation stones for our broader community garden vision.

In a remote area with a small population base, traditional fundraising presents significant challenges, which is why this first grant breakthrough means so much to everyone involved.”

Martin Phillips, Coordinator – Blinman Men’s Shed Inc, SRC R23

Inspiration - Past Projects

Community Hub takes on disaster response

Southern Yorke Peninsula Community Hub used a $25,000 Strengthening Rural Communities grant to purchase a multipurpose trailer for the community.
Read MoreView All Projects
Proudly supported by
This program is collaboratively and generously supported by the following donors:
  • ANZ
  • Brasher Foundation
  • Center for Disaster Philanthropy
  • Charter Hall
  • Friends of FRRR
  • Helen and David Hains Foundation
  • Jeunesse Kids Foundation
  • Kapikarnpi Community Fund
  • Mazda Foundation
  • Newmont
  • Shepherd Family Foundation (ACF)
  • Telstra Foundation
  • The Unsworth Foundation
  • Wyandra Fund
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