2019 Betterment Fund

Program purpose

The purpose of the jointly funded (50:50) Australian and Queensland Government Betterment program is to build back more resilient essential infrastructure damaged by the devastating impacts of the North and Far North Queensland Monsoon Trough, 25 January – 14 February 2019, and reduce the impact of future events on essential infrastructure and the community.

The Betterment program is one component of a jointly funded, exceptional circumstances Category C and D funding package, approved under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) 2018.

The key objectives of the Betterment Fund are to provide Category D DRFA funding to enable state agencies and local governments to:

• access funding that is in addition to DRFA Category B, Reconstruction of Essential Public Assets (REPA) funding available to restore event damaged assets to pre-disaster function
• use the total funding to build back better, more resilient essential public infrastructure
• contribute to the objectives of the Queensland Disaster Resilience and Mitigation Investment Framework (QDRMIF), and the Queensland Strategy for Disaster Resilience (QSDR):
  • Queenslanders understand their disaster risk
  • Strengthened disaster risk management
  • Queenslanders are invested in disaster risk reduction
  • There is continuous improvement in disaster preparedness, response and recovery.

Administering agency

Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA)

Status

Applications for the 2019 Betterment Fund have closed and this program is in delivery.

Eligible applicants

Local governments and state agencies activated for DRFA for the North and Far North Queensland Monsoon Trough.

Guidelines

The following guidelines provide detailed information about the 2019 Betterment program.