Opportunity
A stronger regional Australia
Regional Australia faces perennial weather extremes, such as droughts, floods, heatwaves and frosts. However, the frequency and severity these events are predicted to increase, straining the ability of Australia’s regional communities and industries to thrive.
Low rainfall years have been shown to significantly reduce agricultural profitability and productivity, while many regional and rural communities become threatened with the risk of running out of town water (“Day Zero”). We see an opportunity to create a stronger regional Australia, equipped to successfully live and operate in our dynamic and changing world.
Potential impact
Building drought resilience
Implementing drought resilience will result in a regional Australia that can endure deeper, longer droughts, and recover from them sooner. This will allow our food and agribusinesses to boost national farm income, increase food security, and protect the regional jobs that rely on agriculture. It will increase the resilience of rural and regional communities that depend on agriculture and improve environmental outcomes.
Proposed focus
What we will achieve
We are proposing that the mission operates at three inter-connected levels: on-farm, regionally and at the policy level. We are working to deliver:
- On farm innovation: Assist farmers with improved decisions based on climate data for their location, new farming systems to improve water use efficiency, and options to minimise risk.
- Regional resilience and development: Create climate-resilient regional water supply, community transition planning to diversify economies, and protect natural capital resources.
- Policy enablers and outreach: Develop information and systems that underpin policy response and recognise international solutions to shared problems.
Plan and collaboration
Building it together
We are linking external resources with CSIRO's Agriculture and Food, Land and Water, Oceans and Atmosphere, and Data61 business units to develop cohesive, cross-industry solutions that are ready for community and industry adoption
Drought is a society-wide problem, that requires significant stakeholder input and support to achieve impact. External research partners that are already supporting the development of the Drought Resilience Mission include the Bureau of Meteorology, ABARES and Farm Link. We are seeking additional partners to help us reach our goal of a drought resilient regional Australia.