When natural disasters hit – and in Australia this appears to be becoming more regular – communities are put under enormous stress. The manner and promptness with which authorities and NGOs respond can have a great effect on how well communities bounce back after the event. Australians are resilient by nature, but recovery can be damaged by slow, clumsy and inefficient delivery of support and grants.
Weather it is a cyclone, fire or flood, our State Agency and NGO clients have benefited from the flexibility, capacity and the user responsiveness provided by Enquire. The proof is in the doing.
Following a recent cyclone in Queensland, an Enquire client state agency was able to design, publish and begin receiving applications for emergency grants within three days of funding approval. This meant recovery started immediately and the agency was responding quicker than the insurance companies. This is what responsive government is about and we are proud that our system provided the platform that enabled this response.
In Tasmania following the 2016 floods, the Tasmanian Government implemented the Agricultural Landscape Rehabilitation Scheme (ALRS). The ALRS was designed to assist flood affected landowners and communities through funding projects and services aimed at rehabilitating land and stream systems and providing protection for land and waterways from future floods.
The response to the initial funding allocation was so high that the Government extended the ALRS and doubled the funding for on-farm land care works to support the recovery. Our client NRM North, with the help of the Enquire system, stepped up to handle the administration of the scheme and in association with other NRM groups became the central point of contact for accepting expressions of interest, assessment, making funding offers, and providing access to funds.
The scheme provided assistance to over 235 landholders and 20 local councils.
