$75 million in additional support has been provided to Victoria’s drought-affected farmers
The Victorian government is investing an additional $75 million to help the state’s farmers facing drought.
$35.8 million will go towards helping farming households in Victoria’s south west to manage the pressures they are facing.
Eligible farmers will be provided with the equivalent of a 40 per cent reduction on their property rates, as part of the Primary Producer Support Payments.
Local councils will distribute the payments, offering cash flow relief for farmers in 12 Local Government Areas in south-west Victoria, including Ararat, Moyne, Colac Otway, Pyrenees, Corangamite, Southern Grampians, Glenelg, Surf Coast, Golden Plains, Warrnambool, City of Greater Geelong and southern parts of West Wimmera.
$2 million will go towards supporting the Country Women’s Association, with household payments of up to $1,000 to be delivered to struggling families in eligible south-west LGAs.
A further $5.9 million will be invested to continue critical technical decision-making support, mental health services, timely farm debt mediation and engagement activities for another 12 months.
The state government is also reducing the costs of doing business for primary producers with a $6.3 million fee and duty relief package, freeing up cash for farmers in need to spend on other parts of their business or put into the household budget.
Agriculture Victoria will work with the livestock biosecurity compensation fund advisory committees, Dairy Food Safety Victoria and PrimeSafe to explore opportunities to waive biosecurity duties and regulatory fees and charges.
On top of this, Agriculture Victoria will waive indexation on its 2025-26 biosecurity fees and charges and provide targeted fee relief to assist farmers experiencing cashflow challenges.
Other highlights of the additional drought support include:
- $15 million towards extending the East Grampians Rural Pipeline, also known as the Mininera Rural Pipeline. This will increase access to a reliable and high-quality water supply from Lake Fyans to around 750 additional rural properties, 10 local towns, 34 fire hydrants, and 66 tanks for firefighting in the Ararat Rural City, Northern Grampians, and Pyrenees Shire
- $3 million to expand Victoria’s Emergency Supply Point network and install new access points or upgrade existing ones across the state
- $2.5 million to leverage existing groundwater bores to access water for domestic and stock usage in drought affected areas
- $3.5 million develop a new Western Region Sustainable Water Strategy, making sure communities in the south west are prepared for future drought conditions. This will look at using alternative water supplies like recycled and storm water and boosting waterway health to help them flow during dry conditions
- $1 million for the Catchment Management Authorities to run Drought Employment Programs, which will help people facing hardship due to the drought access off-farm employment opportunities – providing additional income in times of need.
“Cashflow relief was one of the major items raised with the Taskforce, which is why we’re helping farmers to create more room in their budgets to deal with the cost pressures they are facing in drought,” Victorian agriculture minister Ros Spence says.
“Responding to the Taskforce and our regional communities, we are investing in both short-term solutions and legacy infrastructure to improve resilience and water security for farmers and their communities.”