David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Hansard source

The reality is that we understand that there has been an uplift in applications, and that's a good thing. I would say to every Australian farmer not to self-assess. The fact that we are putting more rural financial counsellors on the ground to assist you in terms of undertaking the application is an important step. We're also reviewing the application itself to try to streamline it. The reality is that that does take time. We're working through that as quickly as we can and we're working as practically as we can with the Department of Human Services to make sure that we can expedite as many applications, and resources within the Department of Human Services, as I understand, have been deployed to ensure that this increase in demand of application is able to be assessed in the appropriate time. It is also worth remembering that any person that falls outside the criteria for the farm household allowance can still apply under hardship provisions, and it's important that farmers understand that as well. That is why engaging a rural financial counsellor is so important in this process. They can guide and assist you through the whole application. If for some reason you fall outside one of the guidelines, there are still hardship provisions within the FHA to enable you to apply. This is about making sure the accessibility is there. We are doing it in a responsible way. This amendment is about providing an opportunity, where we have seen that we can deploy extra resources in the application process, to get that money out quicker and in a responsible and methodical way.

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