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Farmers in the southern connected Murray–Darling Basin will be able to apply to purchase water at a discounted rate.
Eligible farmers will be able to apply to purchase an allocation of 50 megalitres from the South Australian Government for $5,000. You must use this water to grow fodder or pasture in the water year it is allocated.
This program will be delivered in two instalments:
- 40 gigalitres of water available this water year (2019-20)
- 60 gigalitres available in the next water year (2020-21).
An evaluation of the program will occur after the first 40 gigalitres has been allocated. This will allow us to amend or improve the program design before the second instalment of water becomes available.
Eligibility
Make sure you are eligible before you apply. You can read the full detail in the program guidelines.
You must:
- be an Australian registered business or company (with an Australian Business Number)
- be a Primary Producer as defined in the program guidelines
- be capable of receiving the water (for example, be connected to a designated irrigation system or direct diverter)
- be able to use the allocation to produce fodder on land which is linked to your allocation account
- be able to pay for the water and all costs incurred in the delivery of the water and the production of the fodder
- use the allocation received under the program in the water year in which it was allocated.
You must not:
- have had more than 1 gigalitre available for delivery in the current water year (through carryover or allocations) in the allocation account
- have applied for an allocation under this program in the past, except as permitted in the guidelines
- been subject to a judicial decision against you relating to employee entitlements, not including decisions under appeal, and have not paid the claim been named by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency as an employer currently not complying with the requirements of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.
How to apply
You can only submit 1 application per water allocation account (or 2 in total, if you hold more than 1 water allocation account).
Applications will open here soon.
Who can submit
You must be 1 of these:
- sole holder of the allocation account
- a holder of the allocation account authorised by all holders, where there is more than one holder
- an authorised representative of the holder or holders (this cannot be a broker or agent).
What to include in your application
You must nominate a valid:
- allocation account into which the allocation can be transferred
- reference number for any Right to Use (if applicable) which is linked to the allocation account
- Australian Business Number (ABN) for the applicant
- email address via which we can communicate with the applicant.
We may contact the applicant to confirm these details.
You must also provide these details:
- the land linked to the allocation account, where you propose to use the allocation
- Trading Zone associated with the allocation account.
We will also ask you to confirm that you meet the eligibility criteria.
These application form requirements are detailed in the program guidelines.
When you submit, you agree that any details you provide will be published on our website (not including personal, identified confidential information) and in any way outlined in the guidelines.
If you are successful, you will be required to provide a signed deed poll as part 2 of your application.
Timeframes
You must submit your application after the Sale Open Time.
We will record the time and date we receive each application. We only consider applications we receive after the Sale Open Time.
Assessment process
We will assess each round of applications using the requirements in the program guidelines.
Representatives of the Australian Government may conduct audits (which may be on farm) and telephone calls to ensure you’re complying with the program guidelines.
Read the detail
Read the program guidelines for full details on eligibility, how to apply and the assessment process.
Download the guidelines
Department of Agriculture, 2019
Document | Pages | File size |
---|---|---|
Water for Fodder program guidelines PDF | 19 | 584 KB |
Water for Fodder program guidelines DOCX | 19 | 108 KB |
If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.
Stay informed
Subscribe for updates. We will notify subscribers when the first round of applications is open.
You can also email questions to waterforfodder@agriculture.gov.au.