NSW Sustainable Communities Program

This program provides community assistance to help reduce the social and economic impacts of water recovery measures on NSW communities under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Listen

an aerial photo of a country town (Griffith in NSW). Buildings are laid out in a circle and there are roads and trees around the buildings. The sky is blue and has lots of wispy white clouds

On this page

The NSW Sustainable Communities Program is providing $160 million to projects and initiatives that support and create jobs, establish industry, and support existing industry to innovate and stimulate economic development.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (the department) is delivering the Sustainable Communities Program in NSW.

The department is taking a three-stage approach to delivery of this program:

Early investment: targeted support for communities exposed and highly vulnerable to the effects of early rounds of water purchasing by the Australian Government. The Early Investment Round closed on 30 April 2025 and successful projects were announced on 26 August 2025.
Consultation: place-based consultation with exposed Basin communities to understand their priorities and the necessary investments needed to support these communities. Consultation was completed in June 2025.
Substantive investment: delivery of multiple streams of support for Basin communities to mitigate adverse socio-economic impacts from water recovery measures. This support is being informed by place-based consultation, available evidence, and aligned with the community adjustment assistance principles set out in the Australian Government’s Restoring Our Rivers Framework. The next round of funding is due to commence in late 2025.

Next phase of investment

An initial $16.3 million is already supporting the southern Basin communities to boost employment, drive business innovation, and support regional tourism as part of the Early Investment Round.

Further funding will be available and will focus on:

Funding critical infrastructure to support long-term growth, including opening land for housing and industry, creating jobs and helping reduce barriers to employing people locally.
Supporting Basin businesses and industries to grow and create jobs by investing in skills, encouraging innovation, improving productivity and helping them expand and diversify products.
Empowering and building stronger communities through support for local-led initiatives that improve community participation and wellbeing, and support for Aboriginal economic and cultural participation.

Consultation

From March to June 2025, the department consulted with exposed and vulnerable communities in the NSW southern Basin to ensure future funding reflects local priorities and support needs.

Through a mix of place-based and online engagement sessions and the Have Your Say platform, communities shared their unique challenges and ideas. Consultation included more than 130 engagement participants and over 100 online submissions were received through the Have Your Say consultation.

This feedback is helping shape the next funding opportunities under the NSW Sustainable Communities Program.

Read the NSW Sustainable Communities Program: What We Heard Consultation Report (PDF 862.38KB) to learn how community input is being used.

How the feedback is being used

Consultation feedback received is helping the department to better understand the challenges, opportunities and needs of people living in Basin communities and is informing the design of the upcoming funding rounds under the NSW Sustainable Communities Program.

This includes:

Funding: different investment rounds and grant sizes that support a range of social and economic needs and priorities, and enable a wide range of potential applicants and projects to be supported
Process: eligibility and application requirements are proportional to the nature and size of support being sought
Support: supporting potential applicants, including early feedback on eligibility and clarifying how both agricultural and other industries can access support

This consultation complements other available evidence to ensure that funding is targeted where it is most needed. Other evidence considered in the design the NSW Sustainable Communities Program includes:

community adjustment assistance principles set out in the Australian Government’s Restoring Our Rivers Framework
information and advice on anticipated water recovery impacts
regional and local economic development strategies and plans
complementary regional development programs and initiatives
lessons learnt from previous community adjustment assistance programs.

For more information, read the What We Heard Consultation Report (PDF 862.38KB).

NSW Sustainable Communities Program webinar

Please view the webinar for additional information on the NSW Sustainable Communities Program.

Background

In August 2023, Basin governments agreed to implement the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. As part of that Basin Plan, the Australian Government reaffirmed its commitment to recover the 450 GL of additional environmental water for the Basin.

The Restoring Our Rivers Framework sets out the Australian Government's approach for achieving the 450 GL water recovery target, which includes water purchasing (buybacks) as one of the measures to achieve the target.

The NSW Government has advocated for and secured more time and flexibility for projects that deliver on Basin Plan commitments without buybacks (see the NSW Alternatives to Buybacks Plan), along with advocating for funding from the Australian Government to support affected communities and industries.

The Australian Government has announced the $300 million Sustainable Communities Program which provides Basin states with community adjustment assistance to mitigate the socio-economic impacts from water recovery measures, including buybacks. The program will be delivered over four years by Basin states.

More information

Top