About the Resilient Homes Program
An overview of the Resilient Homes Program and where the program is available.
What is it?
The Resilient Homes Program helps communities recover from disasters. It also makes eligible homes in high-risk areas more resilient to the impacts of future disasters. This program is being delivered by the NSW Reconstruction Authority (RA).
Who is funding it?
The NSW and Australian Governments are co-funding this program:
- $790 million for the Northern Rivers region
- $40 million for the Central West region
What does it do?
The program offers money to:
- Buy back homes at high risk.
- Make homes more resilient to future floods.
This funding supports voluntary home buybacks and measures to increase resilience to future flooding in impacted communities in the Northern Rivers and Central West local government areas (LGAs).
Who can apply?
Eligible homeowners impacted by floods in these LGAs can apply:
Northern Rivers region
- Ballina
- Byron
- Clarence Valley
- Kyogle
- Lismore
- Richmond Valley
- Tweed
Central West region
- Cabonne
- Forbes
- Lachlan
- Parkes
- Euabalong in Cobar
What help can I get?
- Home Buyback – a buyback of the property whereby the homeowner receives a payment for the purchase of the property
- Home Raising – a grant payment of up to $100,000 including GST towards the cost of elevating the liveable areas of the home and associated consequential works
- Home Rebuild – a grant payment of up to $100,000 including GST towards the cost of rebuilding a more resilient home where the property was destroyed or uninhabitable
- Home Relocation – a grant of up to $100,000 including GST to help homeowners relocate their current home to a safer location on their property, or to another property in the region
- Home Retrofit – a grant payment up to $50,000 including GST towards the cost of retrofitting and/or repair work of on the home to incorporate flood resilient design and materials in eligible areas.
Where the estimated costs for the Resilient Measures (i.e. Home Raising, Home Rebuild, Home Relocation and Home Retrofit) is more than the available grant value, RA will match financial contributions provided by the homeowner for eligible activities (co-contribution) up to a maximum of 100% of the available grant value.
The maximum for a single home is:
- Home Raising or Home Rebuild - $100,000 including GST plus $100,000 in co-contribution up to the maximum grant value of $200,000 in total including GST.
- Home Retrofit - $50,000 including GST plus $50,000 in co-contribution up to a maximum grant value of $100,000 in total.
Free Home Assessments are also available for homeowners who may be eligible for Resilient Measures. In the Central West, homeowners within the Home Assessment stream will also eligible for a Home Assessment.
Want to know more?
The Resilient Homes Program Guideline for each region outlines:
- objectives
- available funding
- criteria
- assessment processes
- timeframes.
Resilient Home Program Guideline – Northern Rivers (PDF 335.97KB)
Resilient Home Program Guideline – Central West (PDF 339.24KB)
Program Background
The Resilient Homes Program was established in response to severe weather events that caused significant flooding in parts of New South Wales.
Northern Rivers Region
In February and March 2022, the Northern Rivers area experienced devastating floods:
- NSW Severe Weather Storms and Flooding from 22 February 2022 onwards (Australian Government Reference Number (AGRN) 1012))
- NSW Severe Weather and Flooding from 27 June 2022 onwards (AGRN 1025)
These events, severely impacted communities across seven local government areas: Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed.
The program commenced in the Northern Rivers in November 2022. It is complemented by the Resilient Lands Program which aims to provide safer housing options, with priority given to Home Buyback participants.
Central West Region
The Central West area faced two major flood events in 2022:
- Southern and Central West NSW Severe Weather and Flooding from 4 August 2022 (AGRN 1030)
- NSW Severe Weather and Flooding from 14 September 2022 (AGRN 1034)
These events had a catastrophic impact on communities in Forbes, Parkes, Cabonne, Lachlan, and parts of Cobar, Local Government areas.
The Resilient Homes Program in the Central West is part of a larger $100 million Central West Recovery and Resilience package, which includes:
- $40 million for a resilient housing program and $2 million for community consultation
- $32 million for the Regional Transport Resilience Fund
- $25 million for a Community Assets Program
- $1 million for a Legal Aid Assistance Program.
By offering options like home buybacks, raising, rebuilding, relocations and retrofitting, the Resilient Homes Program aims to reduce the impact of future floods and strengthen community resilience in these high-risk areas.
The Resilient Homes Program – Central West Engagement Report documents the approach, delivery and outcomes of the consultation undertaken to support the development of the Resilient Homes Program – Central West.
Next steps
For more information
Fact sheets and guidance
Find resources about the Resilient Homes Program in our publications and reports library
