Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment


Scrutiny of Commonwealth expenditure

The below table shows instruments registered between 21 November 2019 and 26 March 2020 specifying Commonwealth expenditure within the portfolio of Agriculture.

Please note that instruments will only appear on this page once they have been considered and reported on by the committee.

Instrument Grant/Program Amount Description Portfolio committee
Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Amendment (Agriculture Measures No. 2) Regulations 2019 [F2019L01638]
 Promoting Sustainable Fisheries and Combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing in Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands
 $14.4 million over four years from 2019-20. The Promoting Sustainable Fisheries and Combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing in Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands Program will provide technical assistance to Southeast Asian countries to promote sustainable fisheries and increase their capacity to counter illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee
Fisheries Habitat Restoration (FHR) Program $8 million over four years from 2019-20. The FHR Program will provide funding to organisations, which may include non-government organisations, fishing clubs and local land care groups, to deliver fisheries habitat restoration projects. Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee
Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Amendment (Environment and Energy Measures No. 3) Regulations 2019 [F2019L01630]
 National Product Stewardship Investment Fund (NPSIF) $20 million over four years from 2019-20. The NPSIF will provide grant funding to support the establishment of new product stewardship schemes and improve recycling rates of existing schemes. Examples of product stewardship activities include recovering valuable resources that can be used to make new products. Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee
Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Amendment (Agriculture, Water and the Environment Measures No. 1) Regulations 2020 [F2020L00102] Traceability Grants Program $7 million over four years from 2019-20 The program will provide grants for projects that aim to enhance the supply chain traceability systems and arrangements that support the export of agricultural commodities.
 Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee
Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Amendment (Agriculture, Water and the Environment Measures No. 2) Regulations 2020 [F2020L00390]
 Initiatives to reduce regulatory and auditing burdens in the dairy export supply chain, and to support Dairy RegTech 2022 $14.8 million over six years from 2019-20

Funding will be provided to support:

  • projects to minimise the burdens for businesses in the dairy export supply chain of compliance with regulatory and auditing requirements;
  • projects to assist dairy businesses with export readiness;
  • projects to improve the use of data in regulation of the dairy export supply chain; and
  • the Dairy RegTech 2022 initiative of Dairy Food Safety Victoria.
 Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee