The $280 million Black Summer Bushfire Recovery (BSBR) Grants program will help communities address priorities for recovery and resilience after the 2019-20 bushfires.

This grants program comes from the National Bushfire Recovery Fund and is additional to support already provided through a range of bushfire recovery programs.

It covers every Local Government Area that was disaster declared as a result of the 2019/20 bushfires including Cessnock Local Government Area.

Community organisations, businesses and local councils are eligible to apply for a grant of between $20,000 and $10 million.

Applications are open for submissions on 22 July 2021 and close on 2 September 2021 with successful project announced by the end of 2021.

Many different types of projects are eligible for support through this grants program but they must be about the recovery and or resilience of communities impacted by the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.

Projects must be complete by 31 March 2024 and must address one or more of the following:

• social recovery and resilience needs;
• economic recovery and resilience needs; and/or
• recovery and resilience needs of the built environment.

Check out the Guidelines on the Business Grants Hub page for more detail.

Applicant support services will be available for people who would like some help with the application process, including workshops please visit our Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants workshops page.

For more information, visit Recovery.gov.au.