Hardwood Timber Haulage Subsidy Program FAQs
Here are the frequently asked questions for the Hardwood Timber Haulage Subsidy Program.
The $10 million Hardwood Timber Haulage Subsidy Program (Program) is part of the $150 million Primary Industry Support Package that is co-funded 50-50 by the Australian and NSW governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. The Package is designed to support recovery, rebuilding and resilience efforts for primary producers and industries which have been significantly impacted by floods.
The Program will subsidise the costs associated with transporting hardwood timber from forests and plantations located Outside of Normal Supply Areas and into processing facilities located in the flood-affected region of the NSW Mid and North Coast.
The aim of the Program is to support job retention at hardwood processing facilities and maintain the supply of High Quality and/or Construction Grade hardwood timber to the construction industry.
The hardwood timber industry in the Mid and North Coast of NSW is one of the most impacted industries from the 2022 storm and floods.
The damaged infrastructure and impediments to access will likely take many months to repair, resulting in low or no harvesting activity and a critical lack of supply of hardwood resources that timber processing facilities would normally rely on. The Hardwood Timber Haulage Subsidy Program will enable hardwood to be sourced from harvest and storage sites located Outside of Normal Supply Areas to support job retention and to maintain supply of Construction Grade timber to the construction industry in flood affected areas of NSW.
Hardwood timber processing facilities that are located and operate within a disaster-declared Local Government Area (LGA) in the NSW Mid and North Coast are eligible to apply. The eligible LGAs include:
- Armidale Regional Council
- Ballina Shire Council
- Bellingen Shire Council
- Byron Shire Council
- Central Coast Council
- Clarence Valley Council
- Coffs Harbour City Council
- Dungog Shire Council
- Glen Innes Severn Council
- Kempsey Shire Council
- Kyogle Council
- Lismore City Council
- Mid Coast Council
- Nambucca Valley Council
- Port Macquarie Hastings Council
- Port Stephens Council
- Richmond Valley Council
- Tweed Shire Council
The eligible LGAs have been determined based on the 62 disaster declared LGAs outlined within the Australian Government Reference Number (AGRN) 1012 and their location in the NSW Mid and North Coast regions. The NSW Government through Resilience NSW and in partnership with the Australian Government declared the 62 LGAs as impacted by a natural disaster following severed weather and floods from 22 February 2022 onwards.
More information regarding the natural disaster declaration can be found at natural disaster declaration.
Hardwood timber processing businesses that are located and operate within an eligible Local Government Area can apply. The applicant must be an incorporated entity that has been trading as a hardwood timber processing facility for at least three years. Applicants must have or be willing purchase at least $20 million in public liability insurance.
No. Timber haulage contractors, NSW Government agencies and state-owned corporations are not eligible under this program.
A subsidy is available at $30 per tonne for the transport of High Quality and/or Construction Grade timber that is sourced from a storage or harvest site that is located outside of an eligible applicant’s normal supply areas.
Outside of Normal Supply areas are defined as being harvest sites that are not in one of the Applicant’s normal supply areas and are located over 100kms by road from the location of the hardwood timber processing facility.
For example, if a hardwood timber processing facility normally sources timber from a storage or harvest site located 65kms by road from the facility, this would be considered within the normal supply area. If the hardwood timber processing facility is unable to access that harvest site due to the heavy rains or flood damage, however they can source timber from a new site located 150kms by road from the facility, then they are eligible to apply for the subsidy for this haulage.
Applicants can provide additional evidence within their application to demonstrate that a supply site is not a normal supply area even if it is within 100kms by road from the processing facility and that as a consequence the applicant is exposed to additional costs. The evidence provided by the applicant can be considered as part of the assessment process at the discretion of the Department of Regional NSW.
The following activities are ineligible under the Program:
- costs associated with the transport of timber from within normal supply areas
- costs associated with the transport of timber that occurred prior to the applicant accepting the funding deed or that will occur after the claim period closes
- costs that have already been covered or claimed under insurance or from other NSW or Australian Government programs
- travel costs not associated with the transport of timber from a storage or harvest site to the processing facility
- costs associated with undertaking assessments of the timber to be transported under this program, such as site visits
- costs that require recurrent or ongoing funding from the NSW Government
- costs to transport timber that does not comply with High Quality and/or Construction Grade hardwood timber standards.
Applicants must provide:
- forecasts of the volume of timber and the subsidy amount that will be claimed under the program, up to a maximum of $500,000 per applicant
- details of the storage or harvest location/s and the processing site location
- evidence that the timber is High Quality and/or Construction Grade hardwood
- evidence that the timber is located Outside a Normal Supply Area
- summary of any on-site visits and assessments by the applicant to grade the timber
- evidence of purchase agreements/contracts and consent of the landowner (where applicable)
- a summary of how the proposed activities will enable continued operations, retain jobs and support ongoing economic activity.
Applications will be assessed by the Department in the order that they are submitted. The Department will stop assessing applications once it has allocated all available funding. This may mean that some applications will not be assessed even if they are received by the Department before 2pm on 30 November 2022.
The Department will aim to notify Applicants of the outcome within 15 business days from submitting a completed Application.
If an Application is missing information or is incomplete, the Department of Regional NSW may, in its sole discretion, work with applicants to clarify any missing or incomplete information. However, the Department will not start assessing the Application until, in the Department’s sole opinion, the Application is complete.
Yes, eligible applicants can submit multiple applications to the Hardwood Timber Haulage Subsidy Program, up to a combined funding total of $500,000 per applicant. Unsuccessful applicants will have the opportunity to receive feedback and are encouraged to resubmit updated applications based on that feedback by the closing date.
Yes, applicants that have received Australian or NSW Government flood recovery support may still be eligible for this program.
Applicants will not be eligible if the funds they are claiming have already been covered or claimed under insurance, or if they have received funding for the activity from other NSW or Australian Government programs.
Successful applicants can claim the subsidy amount up to a maximum of $500,000 per applicant.
The program will be administered by the Department of Regional NSW in consultation with the Department of Primary Industries.
Applications for the Hardwood Timber Haulage Subsidy Program must be completed online using the Smarty Grants portal.
For further information about the program please call the Department of Regional NSW on 1300 679 673 or email floods.recovery@regional.nsw.au.
Any complaints about the Hardwood Timber Haulage Subsidy Program can be submitted to floods.recovery@regional.nsw.gov.au.
Yes, successful applicants can submit multiple claims if required up until the claim submission period closes and up to the maximum amount that the applicant has been approved, up to a maximum of $500,000 per applicant.
Yes. Successful applicants must provide evidence as part of their claims that the timber has been processed and that it is of a High Quality and/or Construction Grade quality. Processing activities must align to the Program objective of maintaining adequate supply of High Quality and/or Construction Grade timber to the construction industry and therefore this does not include activities such as the chipping of timber, or processing timber products for the export market.
Applications will close at 2pm on 30 November 2022. Successful applicants can submit claims for the subsidy from when the applicant has accepted a Funding Deed up until the end of the claim submission period at 5pm on 16 February 2023, or when the funding is fully allocated, whichever occurs first.