Regional Drought Resilience Plan

Drought resilience planning brings together regional organisations, communities and industry to prepare for future drought risk and identify priority projects and actions to build resilience against drought. Our process takes in advice from technical experts, universities, CSIRO, peak grower groups, natural resource management organisations, regional businesses, and State and Commonwealth government agencies to guide development of the plan.

Planning for drought resilience in the inland Great Southern features:

• Drought Vulnerability Assessment: A combination of expert input and extensive stakeholder consultation, which will provide a science-based approach, also incorporating the economic, social and environmental resilience factors for each region.
• Regional Drought Resilience Plan: strategic plans prepared with stakeholders, focusing on innovative ways (projects and actions) to build resilience across the regions agricultural sector and allied industries.
• Investment Framework: A framework of investment-ready Drought Resilient Actions, allowing for targeting of public and private sector investment.

By preparing the Drought Vulnerability Assessment, Regional Drought Resilience Plan and Investment Framework for the inland Great Southern, the GSDC and DPIRD are helping to:

• Ensure the Great Southern is prepared for future droughts
• Build environmental, economic and social resilience to droughts and improve natural resource management
• Plan and position the region to take advantage of emerging opportunities for investment in the Great Southern.

Project ideas are being considered across a range of categories, including social and community resilience, agricultural resilience, innovation and transformation, local and indigenous drought resilience projects.

The purpose is to develop a pipeline of investable drought resilience projects that address the specific needs and priorities of agriculture and allied industries. This information will inform future investments in drought resilience and agricultural adaptation in the region.

The Inland Great Southern Drought Resilience Plan is underpinned by the Inland Great Southern Drought Vulnerability Assessment. This report is informed by a range of technical analyses, a comprehensive geospatial multi-criteria analysis, and extensive community and technical expert engagement.

Read more:

Inland Great Southern Drought Vulnerability Assessment (12MB)

Community Consultation Report for the Inland Great Southern (4MB)

Defining Drought in Western Australia (18MB)

Drought Priority Areas Map for South West Western Australia (2MB)

Global Literature Review Key Drivers Report (0.5MB)

The Economic Impacts of Drought (4MB)

Understanding the Social Impacts of Drought (1MB)

Valuing Noongar People and Practices in Drought Resilience (2MB)

Investigating the Application of Drought Indices to WA (4MB)

Investigating the Environmental Impacts of Drought in WA (7MB)

Regional Water Issues and Policy Analysis Non Potable Water Southern Wheatbelt and Inland Great Southern (12MB)

For more information about Regional Drought Resilience Planning in the Great Southern or to be kept updated, please contact us.

To learn more about Regional Drought Resilience Planning visit:

• Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment: Regional Drought Resilience Planning
• Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development: Future Drought Fund.

This project is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and DPIRD. The Regional Drought Resilience Planning Program is one of the programs under the $5 billion federal Future Drought Fund, a fund that invests in building resilience to drought for farmers, allied industries and regional communities. In Western Australia, during the foundation year, drought resilience plans will be developed in the Great Southern, Mid West and Wheatbelt regions.