The ACT Government prepared a draft Regional Drought Resilience Plan for public comment, funded through the Australian Government Future Drought Fund. The Canberra Community was invited to have their say through an online survey or by attending an in-person information session.

The ACT Government recognises the need for drought planning to be collaborative and evidence-based, acknowledging diverse regional knowledge and perspectives, and reflecting the region's unique social, economic, and environmental features.

The final ACT Regional Drought Resilience Plan is now available online.

The plan has been developed using the latest climate projections, and outlines innovative ways to build drought resilience across the region’s agricultural sector and allied industries.

The plan envisions that ACT rural community is empowered, connected, and supported in drought and climate change planning, preparedness, adaptation, and response, and can adapt to the impacts of future droughts.

The plan seeks to:

• Create stronger connectedness and greater social capital within communities, contributing to wellbeing and security.
• Empower communities to implement transformative activities that improve their resilience to drought.
• Support more primary producers to adopt whole-of-system approaches to Natural Resource Management for long term productivity and landscape health.

The ACT Regional Drought Resilience Plan is part of the Australian Government Future Drought Fund, which is a long-term investment fund that provides a sustainable source of funding to help Australian farmers and communities become more prepared for, and resilient to, the impacts of drought.