Public Service Act 1999
Order to Rename the National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency, Identify the Minister Responsible, and Specify Functions for the Renamed National Recovery and Resilience Agency
I, General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council and under section 65 of the Public Service Act 1999, amend the Order to establish the National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency as an Executive Agency made on 21 February 2019 and amended on 28 March 2019 and on 5 December 2019, by omitting paragraphs (b), (d) and (e) of that Order and substituting the following paragraphs:
(b) allocate the name National Recovery and Resilience Agency to the Executive Agency;
(d) identify the Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management as the Minister responsible for the Executive Agency;
(e) specify the functions of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency be as follows:
Disaster Relief and Recovery Coordination
- to design, develop, consult on, coordinate and, where appropriate, deliver relief and long‑term recovery and reconstruction for areas affected by all-hazard disasters, including the 2019 North Queensland monsoon trough, 2019-20 Bushfires and the 2021 New South Wales and Queensland floods;
- to provide advice to the Minister, and where necessary the Prime Minister, on how existing and new Commonwealth policies and programs can best contribute to relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts in areas affected by disasters;
- to engage with affected communities to support locally-led recovery and improve awareness and uptake of Commonwealth relief, recovery and reconstruction support;
- to administer the Commonwealth loan scheme to provide assistance to eligible primary producers by way of loans to Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions at the Government’s cost of borrowing;
General
v. to work closely with all levels of government to continually improve national recovery and resilience coordination;
vi. to undertake other relevant tasks as the Minister may require from time to time;
vii. to provide advice to the Minister on matters relevant to the National Recovery and Resilience Agency;
Disaster Relief, Recovery, Risk Reduction and Preparedness Policy and Funding
viii. to provide national leadership and strategic coordination for natural disaster resilience, risk reduction and preparedness, and all hazards disaster relief and recovery across all levels of government and across sectors;
ix. to lead national implementation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework and relevant action plans;
x. to develop, lead and coordinate national disaster recovery policy, including funding arrangement policy and reforms;
xi. to design, oversee and administer natural disaster resilience, risk reduction and preparedness funding programs, including but not limited to the legislated Emergency Response Fund Special Account;
xii. to administer the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements and hold policy responsibility for the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment, the Disaster Recovery Allowance, the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment, and equivalent ex‑gratia payments for New Zealand citizens;
xiii. to provide strategic oversight of the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience and relevant national research centres;
xiv. to work with all levels of government to enhance national recovery capability and preparedness and improve local resilience capacity;
Rural Financial Counselling
xv. to administer the Rural Financial Counselling program and related measures; and
Drought
xvi. to deliver drought recovery and resilience outreach and community engagement.
Paragraphs (b), (d), (e)i to (e)vii in this Order will commence on the date of Gazettal.
Paragraphs (e)viii to (e)xvi in this Order will commence on 1 July 2021.
Dated 15 April 2021
David Hurley
Governor-General
By His Excellency’s Command
Scott Morrison
Prime Minister