The National Recovery and Resilience Agency (NRRA) was an
Australian government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
executive agency to help those affected by natural disasters, including
droughts
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
,
bushfires
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...
and
floods. It was an agency of the
Department of Home Affairs between 1 July 2022 until it was replaced by the
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in September 2022. Prior to this, it was an agency of the
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The agency was formed on 5 May 2021 from the merger of the National Bushfire Recovery Agency and the National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency, in response to the
Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements.
disaster risk reduction
Disaster risk reduction (DRR) sometimes called disaster risk management (DRM) is a systematic approach to identifying, assessing and reducing the risks of disaster. It aims to reduce socio-economic vulnerabilities to disaster as well as dealing w ...
and recovery functions from the Department of Home Affairs, and rural financial counselling program from the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
The Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) was an Australian Government department which operated from 1 February 2020 until 30 June 2022. It represented Australia's national interests in agriculture, water and th ...
.
The agency was led by its sole Coordinator-General, Shane Stone
Shane Leslie Stone (born 25 September 1950) is an Australian political figure. He is currently the Chair of the Council for the Order of Australia. He was also the Coordinator-General of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency and its pre ...
, who was also previously head of the National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency and its predecessor North Queensland Livestock Industry Recovery Agency. The Minister for Emergency Management, currently Murray Watt
Murray Patrick Watt (born 20 January 1973) is an Australian politician who has served as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in the Albanese government since June 2022. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has b ...
, holds ministerial responsibility for the agency.[ In July 2022, the Albanese government announced that it would recommend the Governor-General to merge the agency and the ]Emergency Management Australia
Emergency Management Australia (EMA) was an Australian Government body responsible for emergency management coordination. EMA was transferred from the Attorney-General's Department in a machinery of government change to become a division of the n ...
on 1 September 2022 to form a new agency, which would later be known as National Emergency Management Agency. Following the announcement, Stone took leave and left the agency on 31 August. The Chief Operating Officer for the Department of Home Affairs, Justine Saunders , was the acting Coordinator-General until the new agency was formed.
Preceding agencies
National Bushfire Recovery Agency
On 5 January 2020, the creation of National Bushfire Recovery Agency was announced by Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Scott Morrison
Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for th ...
during the 2019–20 bushfire season and following some of the worst effects of the fires during that season. It was set to run for two years, funded with $2 billion. The agency was intended to provide help and support to people who have lost their homes and businesses as a result of the fires. The agency was headed by Andrew Colvin
Andrew Colvin is an Australian police officer who was the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police from September 2014 to September 2019. On 5 January 2020, Colvin was appointed to lead the newly-established National Bushfire Recovery ...
, a former Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.
National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency
On 1 March 2019, the North Queensland Livestock Industry Recovery Agency (NQLIRA) was created to help in flood recovery following the North Queensland floods.[ In December 2019, North Queensland Livestock Industry Recovery Agency was expanded to include drought and renamed into a new National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency.]
See also
* List of Australian government entities
References
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Defunct Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia
2021 establishments in Australia
Government agencies established in 2021
Bushfires in Australia
Floods in Australia
2019 disasters in Australia
2019 wildfires
2020 disasters in Australia
2020 wildfires