Expanded drought support for SA farmers and small businesses

Any family or small business working with the Rural Financial Counselling Service, delivered via the Rural Business Support Relief Fund, can access up to $1500 in funding.

LGA, through our regional committee, has been actively engaging the state government to provide council rate relief and we're pleased to see this included as part of the grants.

The latest update comes after the state government recently announced an additional $55 million drought relief package, which builds upon the $18 million of initial assistance in November last year, taking the total state drought assistance available to $73 million.

Included is a further $13 million for On-Farm Drought Infrastructure Grants for rebates that assist with projects to manage drought conditions and strengthen drought preparedness, and $1.4 million to co-invest with councils in the upgrade of regional standpipes.

A full breakdown of how the funding will be allocated can be found on the PIRSA website.

Why support is vital for communities

Many farmers, especially in the Mid North, Riverland and Murraylands, are heading into their third year of drought-like conditions and reaching breaking point.

It’s at the stage where the hurt isn’t just being felt on properties – the flow-on effect is starting to impact local towns and communities, where pubs, bakeries and hardware stores rely on primary producers for their business.

Given some regional councils receive up to 70 percent of their rates revenue through primary producers, when local farmers struggle, so do local communities.

Farmers enduring hardship may require delays in the payment of council rates, however when rates payments are deferred and no revenue is being generated, councils can be forced to cut services– which further compounds the hardship for communities.

What we’ve been doing

LGA is working with the state government and individual councils around improvements to standpipes, following discussions with SAROC regional councils.

As a sector, we’re also engaging with other levels of government and are keen to have conversations about what additional support is available to councils to assist primary producers in our regions.

Potential options raised include:

• interest-free loans to councils so they can defer rates and continue to provide services
• federal government support for concessional interest rates during the drought period.

LGA, represented by Coorong Mayor Paul Simmons, has also participated in PIRSA’s Drought Advisory Group, drought roundtables and at meetings with Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, the Hon Clare Scriven MLC.

Action farmers can take

Some steps primary producers can take if they are enduring financial hardship due to drought include:

• Connect with Rural Business Support early: Any farming families or small businesses can use this service and it will make them eligible for Rural Support Grants. They are currently managing 130+ cases from the grain/sheep/cattle producers and 100+ from the grape industry and are equipped to assist.
• Reach out to their bank early: Banks have acknowledged they are aware of the removal of drought declarations and say this will not prevent them from enacting hardship options for customers.
• Use the services of the Financial Assistance Hub

Find out more

More information about managing drought and accessing support is available on the PIRSA website.

The Australian Government Drought Plan (2024-2028) was also released in December 2024 and provides a framework for how the federal government approaches drought and is supporting farmers.