Federal funding for disaster preparedness program

3 May 2022

Mount Barker District Council has recieved $1.377 million in Federal grant funding to deliver of a 3 year disaster preparedness program across the district.

The Federal Governemnt’s Preparing Australian Communities grant program provides funding to communities for projects that will help them to be better prepared for future disasters and lessen the impacts of disasters should they occur.

Called Fire to Flourish Council’s program includes offering education, information and advice to landholders to improve fuel load management, working with community groups to develop and implement emergency response plans, training staff to understand and respond to trauma in communities, to work with our indigenous community on land and fire management strategies, as well as improve roadside vegetation management.

“Thanks to this grant funding, our community will have the ability to withstand and recover from disaster and be better connected with local networks” Mayor Ann Ferguson said,

“We hope that through this program, people who are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of emergencies in our community will become more disaster resilient by being linked to these networks.”

The funding is for a 3 year program with 5 new dedicated positions funded by the grant, to work with towns and communities on emergency resilience activities to compliment the work of non-government agencies such as Red Cross.