Round: Tasmanian Regional Drought Resilience - Quick Wins Grants Program 2026

Part of the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, the Regional Drought Resilience Planning (RDRP) Program (known in Tasmania as Drought Ready Tas) aims to help communities across Australia be better prepared for and resilient to the impacts of future drought and climate variability events, through the development and implementation of regional drought and climate resilience plans. Being better prepared means droughts and other climatic events will have less impact, ensuring we can continue to thrive even through hard times.

 In Tasmania, we have three regional drought and climate resilience plans:

• • Southern Tasmania
  • Northern Tasmania
  • North-West Tasmania

Quick Wins grants program

Funding is available through the 2026 Drought Ready Tas Quick Wins grants program to support eligible organisations progress local projects that help deliver actions within Tasmania's regional drought and climate resilience plans, up to the farm gate.

The 2026 Quick Wins round has $300,000 available across the state, with $100,000 allocated to each region. Projects can be between $10,000 to $30,000.

The Guideline for this Grant Round can be found HERE.

While Quick Wins grants are designed to support local projects that benefit individual regions (North, North-West or South), an organisation can also submit a single project that spans two or all three regions, for an amount of up to $90,000 across the state.

Quick Wins is focused on initiating incremental change, with the hope that, over time, the projects funded through this program lead to longer-term transformational change.

As well as aligning with your region's community drought resilience plan, grant ideas must also comply with the Future Drought Fund’s Determination 2024-28 mandatory principles. 

As part of your application, you will need to submit a budget outlining how requested funds will be spent. Letters of Support are not required at this stage. Good luck!

The Drought Ready Tas program focuses on building drought and climate preparedness up to the farm-gate. Based on recent program insights and identified community drought and climate resilience gaps in Tasmania, applicants are encouraged to focus on the below resilience areas:

• projects that help regional communities create new and diverse economic opportunities 
• environmental conservation, restoration and research projects and/or solutions to help communities better understand and adapt to drought and climate impacts
• projects that address regional vulnerabilities and needs around community infrastructure and services that will contribute to drought resilience
• projects that enhance water use efficiency and address vulnerabilities in water systems, including feasibility and planning projects.

If you are submitting a cross-regional project, applicants are encouraged to consider the program’s identified cross-regional priorities provided in Attachment 1 of these guidelines.

Remember, these are just a few ideas. Use your regional drought resilience plan to help spark your thinking about what your organisation could deliver.

Target projects will be considered as part of the assessment criteria.

I confirm, as an authorised representative of the organisation, that:

• I have read and understand the Program Guidelines
• My project aligns with my region's community drought and climate resilience plan. 

I also confirm that my organisation meets the following criteria:

Applicants must be based in Tasmania and meet the following eligibility criteria:

 1. Be one of the following entities:

A. Registered charity, registered with the ACNC

B. an incorporated and not-for-profit organisation, or operates as a not-for-profit organisation

C. local government authorities

D. Tasmanian-based Aboriginal organisations, as registered on the Register of Aboriginal Community Associations or Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC).

2. Participate in networking and capacity development opportunities offered by the Drought Ready Tas team.

3. Commit to being part of Future Drought Fund (FDF) program evaluation.

To receive funding all projects must align with the following principles. Alignment will be reviewed by the project team as part of confirming project eligibility.

Note:
If you believe your project does not meet all of the principles listed below, we recommend that you do not proceed with an application, as it is unlikely to be eligible for funding. This is simply to avoid unnecessary effort on your part and ensure your time is spent on opportunities that are a better fit.

• Does your project align with the vision, aim and strategic objectives of the Future Drought Fund, particularly in supporting economic, environmental, and social resilience?
• Does your project deliver a public good? (A public good is one that is non-excludable and non-rivalrous—meaning it can be accessed and used by multiple people without diminishing its availability to others.)
• Is your project focused on long-term drought resilience, and not intended to provide in-drought assistance or directly address individual hardship?
• Will your project actively encourage the participation of diverse individuals, organisations, and landscapes across the agricultural sector and rural, regional, and remote communities—including First Nations peoples?
• Does your project foster collaboration to improve coordination, planning, communication, and implementation of drought resilience activities, while avoiding duplication of effort?
• Is your project designed to achieve efficient and effective outcomes for stakeholders?
• Will your project ensure that all data, knowledge and learnings generated are shared and made freely available in the public domain?
• Does your project include planned monitoring, evaluation and learning activities that are robust, efficient, and aligned with Future Drought Fund expectations?