Page Content
About AAA
AAA - Farm Help
The Farm Help Program has concluded. Farmers who entered the program prior to the closing date will not be disadvantaged and will still receive agreed assistance.
From 30 June 2008 no new applications for farm help income support will be accepted. Payments will cease after 30 June 2009. The Farm Help Advice and Training Scheme and the Farm Help Re-establishment Grant Scheme are also concluding. The deadline to use advice and training vouchers and for claiming a re-establishment grant is 30 April 2009.
Farm Help provided short-term financial assistance to farm families in severe financial difficulty.
The program aimed to help farmers having trouble meeting living expenses and who were unlikely to get a loan from a financial institution while they took action to improve their long-term financial prospects.
It focused on:
-
improving the financial performance of farm enterprises
-
finding alternative sources of off-farm income, or
-
re-establishing families outside farming – if they choose to do so.
For more information on Farm Help and assistance visit Farm Help or phone the Centrelink farmer freecall line on 1800 050 585.
AAA – FarmBis
The FarmBis Program has concluded.
FarmBis helped eligible primary producers, fishers and rural land managers to develop business and natural resource management skills through funding assistance for education and training activities in areas such as:
- financial management
- marketing
- natural resource management
- risk management, and
- people management.
FarmBis was a partnership between the Australian Government and participating state and territory governments that closed on 30 June 2008. The national FarmBis program in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory ended on 29 February 2008.
AAA - Rural Financial Counselling Service
The Rural Financial Counselling Service Program will continue.
The Rural Financial Counselling Service Program provides free and impartial financial counselling to help clients make informed financial and business decisions and to better manage change and adjustment.
Rural financial counsellors help farmers, fishers and small rural businesses in serious financial difficulty who have no other access to impartial financial information.
The program provides:
- financial information
- options
- decision-support and referrals
For more information visit Rural Financial Counselling Service or phone: freecall 1800 686 175
AAA - International Agricultural Cooperation
The International Agricultural Cooperation Program will continue.
The Australian Government allocated $1.6 million a year over four years from 2004–05 to 2007–08 plus a further $7.7 million from 2007–08 to 2010–11 to the International Agricultural Cooperation program to improve market access and trade growth for Australia’s agriculture, fisheries, forestry and processed food industries.
The program works to improve market access and increase trade opportunities for farmers by supporting existing and new relationships while overcoming regulatory, technical and economic impediments to farm and food exports.
Part of the new funding will be used to address significant market access crises and to increase the understanding of domestic stakeholders of the importance of international trade.
Projects funded by this program have provided significant benefits to many Australian producers.
Existing bilateral cooperative arrangements include:
- Australia-China Agricultural Cooperation Agreement (ACACA)
- Australia-Indonesia Working Group on Agriculture, Food and Forestry Cooperation (WGAFFC).
For more information visit International Agricultural Cooperation or phone: freecall 1800 686 175
AAA – Farm Management Deposits Scheme
The Farm Management Deposits Scheme will continue.
The Farm Management Deposits (FMD) Scheme enables primary producers to set aside pre-tax primary production income from good years as cash reserves to help meet costs in low income years. The scheme is an important part of many primary producers’ financial and risk management strategies.
Further information is available from participating financial institutions, the FMD website or from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Phone: ATO freecall on 13 28 66