Information sheets

The NSW Government's native vegetation assistance package

Farmer exit assistance

The Native Vegetation Act 2003 brought an end to broadscale land clearing across the state as part of the NSW Government’s wide-ranging reform to the management and protection of native vegetation. While the vast majority of landholders are not affected, the new native vegetation laws may impact some landholders, particularly those with large areas of undeveloped land, or who want to change the way they do business.

The Government’s $37 million Native Vegetation Assistance Package (NVAP) has been established to assist landholders who are directly disadvantaged by being unable to clear native vegetation on their property. The package is funded by the Environmental Trust and will be available to eligible landholders until 30 June 2009.

The package consists of three components:

Each component provides assistance to meet particular needs and has specific eligibility criteria. Check the relevant information sheet or contact your local Catchment Management Authority (CMA) for more information.

What is Farmer Exit Assistance?

Farmer Exit Assistance is available for eligible landholders whose farm business is no longer commercially viable as a result of the native vegetation reforms. Assistance is provided to landholders to either exit the industry, or to help them relocate their farm business.

Under this component of the package, the NSW Government can offer to purchase a property, which will then be on-sold under strict environmental management conditions. Money generated by the sale is added to a revolving pool fund for purchasing further properties.

Landholders who sell their property through this scheme may be eligible for additional funding of up to $5500 (including GST) to cover the cost of preparation of sale contracts, re-location and advisory services.

Farmer Exit Assistance is being administered by the Nature Conservation Trust on the advice of CMAs and the Rural Assistance Authority.

Am I eligible for Farmer Exit Assistance?

To qualify for Farmer Exit Assistance, a landholder must:

Demonstrating loss of commercial viability

The NSW Rural Assistance Authority will undertake an assessment of loss of commercial viability. The assessment is based on whether the proposed clearing was required to meet the following needs:

Eligible landholders must also have contributed the majority of their labour to the farm business and generate the majority of their income from that business.

How do I apply?

If you have been unable to gain approval to clear or harvest native vegetation through the PVP assessment process and would like to apply for Farmer Exit Assistance, you will need to complete the following form, available from your PVP officer:

You will also need to provide supporting documents to make the case for loss of commercial viability, including tax returns and financial statements.

If your application meets the eligibility criteria it will be forwarded to the Nature Conservation Trust, which will commission an independent valuation of your property. The Trust will make a written offer to purchase the property based on this valuation.

Properties will be valued and offers made until funds from the Farmer Exit Assistance pool are exhausted or all eligible applications received before 30 June 2009 have been offered assistance, whichever occurs first.

For more information

Your PVP officer will be able to provide more information on the Native Vegetation Assistance Package, or you can contact the CMA Native Vegetation Assistance Package Team on 02 6881 3429.

Note: This information does not constitute formal legal advice. Please seek specific advice from your local CMA before undertaking any clearing or taking action based on the expectation of receiving farmer exit assistance.