Australia faces some of the most severe climate change impacts in the developed world — increasingly frequent and intense bushfires, floods, cyclones, droughts, and rising seas. Adapting to these changes while transitioning away from fossil fuels requires investment at scale from government, philanthropy, and private capital. This piece covers the grant and funding landscape for climate adaptation in Australia.
Severity of impacts
Australia's climate change impacts are not future risks — they are present realities:
- The 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires burned 18 million hectares
- The 2022 Queensland and NSW floods were among the most costly in history
- The Great Barrier Reef has experienced repeated mass coral bleaching
- Extreme heat events are intensifying across Australian cities
- Coastal erosion is accelerating
These events have a disproportionate impact on:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (traditional land affected, cultural sites threatened)
- Rural and regional communities (agriculture, housing, infrastructure at risk)
- Low-income communities (less able to adapt, insure, or relocate)
- Small businesses and farmers
National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework
The Australian Government's disaster risk reduction approach — moving from emergency response to prevention and risk reduction:
- Hazard mapping and risk assessment
- Nature-based solutions
- Infrastructure resilience
National Resilience, Relief and Recovery Funding (RRRF)
Joint Commonwealth-State funding for disaster recovery and resilience:
- Post-disaster reconstruction
- Prevention investment (reducing disaster risk)
- Community resilience building
Bushfire Recovery
Post-Black Summer bushfire recovery:
- National Bushfire Recovery Agency (established 2020)
- Wildlife and ecosystem recovery grants
- Community and economic recovery
- Mental health and social recovery
Reef Restoration
Reef restoration and resilience is a major government investment:
- Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)
- Reef Restoration Foundation support
- Great Barrier Reef Foundation (public-private partnership)
Net Zero and Climate Finance
Federal climate funding increasingly focuses on transition:
- Rewiring the Nation (electricity grid transformation)
- Hydrogen Headstart Programme
- Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) — not grants but below-market finance for clean investment
CSIRO Climate Science Centre
Research funding for climate adaptation science — some philanthropic supplement to government funding.
Philanthropy Australia — Climate Philanthropy
Growing engagement from Australian philanthropists in climate — both adaptation and mitigation.
Environment and Conservation Foundations
International Climate Philanthropy
Some international foundations fund Australian climate adaptation:
- Packard Foundation: oceans and marine
- Bezos Earth Fund: global climate including Australia
- Bloomberg Philanthropies: climate and environment
Corporate Climate Commitments
Major Australian corporates (banks, insurance companies, miners transitioning) have climate commitments that include some community climate adaptation investment.
Community-level climate adaptation is increasingly a philanthropy priority:
Fire-affected communities
Flood resilience
Coastal communities
Heat health
Drought resilience
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities face particular climate vulnerability:
- Sacred sites and cultural landscapes at risk from sea level rise and fire
- Traditional food systems disrupted by ecological change
- Relocation of entire communities from at-risk low-lying islands
First Nations-led climate adaptation is increasingly recognised as both a rights issue and a practical resilience strategy:
- Indigenous land management practices (cultural burning, water management) are proven climate adaptation tools
- Community-led adaptation is more effective and culturally appropriate than externally imposed programmes
- Funding must recognise sovereignty and self-determination
Strong climate adaptation grant applications:
Tahua's grants management platform supports climate adaptation funders — with project tracking across community resilience, ecosystem restoration, and disaster recovery portfolios, geographic grant mapping, climate outcome measurement, and the tools that help climate funders manage complex, multi-year adaptation investment.