Statement of Purpose from the NRWC Drought Forum

The one day Managing Drought – Managing Solutions Forum, was held in Dubbo on 9 September 2003 and attended by 110 peoplations from each state and territory of Australia. The forum was an opportunity for rural women to ‘think’ nationally and focus on solutions for addressing the social, economic, cultural and environmental consequences being faced in rural, regional and remd in rural, regional and remote Australia as a result of climatic variability.

Guiding principle

The development of an integrated Australia-wide, whole of Government rural strategy that has equity as its core principle.

Recommendations

Enable all people to make decisions that sustain farming communities and are consistent with individual goals and values by:

• The development of a whole farm management training package, focussing on biodiversity and sustainability and which utilises local knowledge where possible.
• Incentive-based finance packages, including Government assistance, to encourage diversification and sustainable farming practices.
• Implementing a management deposit scheme (similar to the farm management deposit scheme) for small business in rural Australia and the fishing industry.
• Targeted risk management courses for rural businesses, including agriculture.
• Providing long-term low interest investment loans for export focussed rural industries.
• Retaining an equitable Commonwealth administered FarmBiz Scheme, or equivalent, to assist landholders with education, information, leadership, planning and management for climatic extremes.
• Increasing women’s involvement in policy for Landcare and water management.
• Establishing contact between senior Indigenous women and other rural women, to develop relationships and seek shared solutions.
• Exploring using the arts and culture to raise awareness in environmental safety.
• Investigating a one-stop Government access point for information about drought, with face-to-face contacts available at a local level.
• Retaining on-going rural community services, including rural financial counselling, beyond the life of the drought.
• Seeking to remove the impact of climatic variability from the welfare system.
• Ensuring equity of access to bulk billing for people living in rural areas.

Supporting a national research centre for drought and climate variability to equip rural communities to Plan, Prepare, Respond and Recover from drought.

• Providing Government assistance to ensure s not interrupted during drought.
• Developing a national education package to increase awareness at a school level about sustainable environments and rural communities.

In hosting the national drought forum the NRWC recognised that times of crises can also be times of opportunity. It will make the outcomes from the forum widely available and progress them actively through Government, industry and women in our rural communities.

The following topics were addressed in a structured national discussion at the forum:

Farming solutions – sustainable management and practice

• Solutions for the effect of drought on small business, transport and rural industries
• Solutions for the effect of drought on the environment, including Indigenous peoples.
• Targeted education, training and research about drought and drought solutions.
• Positive results for Government policy, drought relief and Exceptional Circumstances.
• Investing in healthy communities – social solutions.
• Each topic was discussed at a workshop session and outcomes reported back to the whole forum. Endorsed outcomes will be presented to Government, industry and other groups as a basis for rural policy development.