The Australian Government provided $52.9 million for the Supporting Agricultural Shows and Field Days Program.
This grants program provided operational support for agricultural shows and field days that were forced to cancel their events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible agricultural show societies and agricultural field day organisers received a one-off payment to reimburse eligible expenses for cancelled shows and field day events.
To date, over 700 shows and field days have been cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two grants rounds were undertaken for this program:
- Round one provided $34.7 million to 371 agricultural show societies and field day organisers, and seven Capital City Royal Shows that cancelled their events in 2020.
- Round two provided $18.2 million to 216 agricultural show societies and field day organisers, and four Capital City Royal Shows that cancelled their events in 2021.
Both rounds are now closed.
Full details of grants awarded can be found on GrantConnect.
Ad-hoc Grants
As part of round one, ad-hoc grants were provided to Agricultural Shows Australia and the Association of Agricultural Field Days Australasia.
Agricultural Shows Australia:
- $100,000 was provided in operational support for the Agricultural Shows Australia’s Rural Ambassador Program. This ambassador program highlights and celebrates young people who have a genuine interest in rural and regional Australia.
Association of Agricultural Field Days Australasia:
- $100,000 was provided to the Association of Agricultural Field Days Australasia to support its annual conference scheduled for 30 April 2021 to 2 May 2021. It also provided training and assistance for members on recovery management planning.