David Littleproud, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management, has recently announced that Rotary would receive a Drought Community Support Initiative [DCSI] $5,000,000 for cash grants to families impacted by the ongoing drought.

Rotary previously received $6,500,000 for cash grants, and using the chain of District Drought Relief Projects from FNQ through all states to SA, delivered 3,403 cash grants.
It will be this same Rotary network that will be used to deliver the $5,000,000 should we decide to accept the offer.
 
The attached media release is the only information we have at this stage, however, the implementation of the DCSI process previously followed was
·         Entering a legal contract with the Commonwealth for the distribution including grant guidelines, assessment procedures, and corporate governance including reporting and audit requirements
·         Consultation with the project managers of District Drought Relief projects to determine involvement and capacity to deliver.
·         Preparing distribution guidelines and grant assessment procedures for project managers
·         Establishing corporate governance systems
·         Meeting strict Commonwealth reporting requirements
 
The setup stage may take up to a month.
 
It would be my intent to publish regular setup updates of progress of delivering this $5,000,000, yet another demonstration of the power of Rotary within Australia.
 
Please ring me if you have any questions.
 
Regards
Mike Whitehouse
RAWCS National Treasurer
0448 710 882