eligibility for drought assistance
Rural families and individuals are eligible to apply for drought household assistance when they:
- are currently disadvantaged by the drought, and
- are located in a drought affected district that is not declared as a Commonwealth Exceptional Circumstance Area.
There are three categories of people eligible for drought household assistance.
For each category, other forms of assistance received by the household will be considered when applications are assessed.
category 1: farm households
Farm households are eligible for assistance if they:
- are reliant on their property for a substantial proportion of gross income, generally at least 30%
- have insufficient income and/or cash reserves to meet basic living needs
Applicants who receive income support from Centrelink are not eligible for assistance under the Scheme unless:
- they are waiting for a Centrelink payment to begin
- they have only recently received a Centrelink allowance AND
- where there are clearly extreme circumstances and the Centrelink allowance will not be sufficient to clear debts accumulated as a result of the drought
In most cases, only one application per household will be considered in each financial year up to a limit of $2000.
category 2: non-farm households
Non-farm households are eligible for assistance if they are:
- directly dependent on primary production and, as a result of the drought, have insufficient income and/or cash reserves to meet basic living needs (for example: a person who contracts harvesting or shearing services to farm businesses)
- indirectly dependent on a drought affected rural economy and, as a result of the drought, they have insufficient income and/or cash reserves to meet basic living needs (for example: a person whose income relies on supplying goods or services to farm business contractors)
Category 2 is a one off payment, only one application per household will be considered up to a limit of $2000.
category 3: other non-farm households
Applicants are eligible for assistance if they are a low income rural household, which relies on tank water for their household needs because they are not connected to a town water supply.
Multiple applications may be made under category 3. The maximum assistance provided for each application is $400.