The National Recovery and Resilience Agency (NRRA) was an

Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

executive agency to help those affected by natural disasters, including

droughts A drought is a period of 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, ...

bushfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

, and

floods A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

. It was an agency of the

Department of Home Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

from 1 July 2022 until it was replaced by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in September 2022. Before 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 The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, also referred to as the Bushfires Royal Commission, was a royal commission established in 2020 by the Australian government to inquire into and report upon natural disaster manage ...

. On 1 July 2021, transition into the new agency was complete with the incorporation of

disaster risk reduction Disaster risk reduction aims to make disasters less likely to happen. The approach, also called DRR or disaster risk management, also aims to make disasters less damaging when they do occur. DRR aims to make communities stronger and better prepared ...

and recovery functions from the

, and rural financial counseling 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 a member and former leader of the Country Liberal Party, and was the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory between May 1995 and February 1999. Since Oct ...

, 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 The Minister for Emergency Management is an Australian Government cabinet position which is currently held by Kristy McBain since May 2025 in the Albanese government. In the Government of Australia, the minister administers this portfolio thr ...

, currently

Murray Watt Murray Patrick Watt (born 20 January 1973) is an Australian politician who has served as Minister for the Environment and Water in the Albanese government since May 2025. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been a Senat ...

, holds ministerial responsibility for the agency. In July 2022, the

Albanese government The Albanese government is the current federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Labor Party. The Albanese government was sworn in on 23 May 2022 by the Governor-General of Australia, David Hurl ...

announced that it would recommend the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

to merge the agency and

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 ne ...

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 the National Bushfire Recovery Agency was announced by

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...

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 ...

, a former

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

of the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...

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.

References

{{authority control Defunct Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia 2021 establishments in Australia 2022 disestablishments in Australia Government agencies established in 2021 Government agencies disestablished in 2022 Bushfires in Australia Floods in Australia 2019 disasters in Australia 2019 wildfires 2020 disasters in Australia 2020 wildfires

Preceding agencies

National Bushfire Recovery Agency

National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency

See also

References