Our work

Since 2020, the business community has rallied in support of disaster affected areas through BizRebuild, providing around $10 million in practical and in-kind assistance.

BizRebuild has helped thousands of small businesses and local communities in:

  • New South Wales
  • Queensland
  • Victoria
  • Tasmania
  • Western Australia
  • South Australia

We don’t know where, or when, but we do know that Australian small businesses will need help following natural disasters. BizRebuild, together with the business community, will continue to step up and be there for Australia’s local businesses when the need arises.

Our work on the ground

Our work is grounded in making a real difference to peoples’ lives as quickly as possible while also taking a strategic long-term approach to ensure the recovery is sustainable and long-lived.

Victorian Floods

Following unprecedented flooding in central Victoria in October 2022, BizRebuild was proud to support around 100 impacted small businesses in Rochester.

Small businesses are the glue that holds local communities like Rochester together. BizRebuild was able to help businesses like the local pharmacy in Rochester, which was able to use a BizRebuild $2,000 Re-Equipping voucher to quickly purchase a new medicine fridge, enabling them to provide life-saving medication for the community in just days following the October floods.

You can read more about our work in Rochester here.

Mogo Pop-Up Mall

In the small village of Mogo, just outside Batemans Bay, we set up a Pop Up Mall so local businesses can trade again while their premises are rebuilt.

ATCO provided 13 demountable buildings initially for 12 months. Sydney-based trucking contractor, P&S Haul-Em, transported them from Sydney to Mogo at a discounted rate. The Mogo Chamber of Commerce and Eurobodalla Shire worked with BizRebuild to establish the Pop Up Mall.

Beach House Stairs

In Batemans Bay, we matched the owners of carpentry business Beach House Stairs with hardware supplier Bunnings. Bunnings provided the company with replacement tools within 24 hours, and nine tradesmen were able to get back to work.

As owners Jane and Rob told us, this “practical response to the devastation caused by the bush fires, is exactly the kind of support that small businesses like ours needs”.

Business Turnaround Forums

We have held our first two Business turnaround forums in Merimbula and Narooma to provide advice and information from experts to local businesses about how they can get back on their feet.

The forums are held in conjunction with local business and tourism associations and shire councils.

The forums feature a panel of experts, a Q&A and then business owners can discuss their individual needs one-on-one with experts.

Some of the topics covered include:

  • Financial recovery and business turnaround strategies
  • Navigating insurance claims
  • Marketing and business development
  • Understanding what government financial assistance is on offer
  • Mental health support

Cobargo Innovation Hub

Following the Black Summer Bushfires, BizRebuild, supported by the Community Rebuilding Trust, joined with the Cobargo community in 2020 to kick start the Cobargo Innovation Hub with an $880,000 grant from the business community.

The Hub is the first commercial property of its type, constructed by Australian innovator FormFlow using bushfire resilient design and materials.

Designed to attract new businesses to the region, house vital community amenities and provide premises for those who need them, the Cobargo business and community hub is helping to get the town back on its feet and make it more resilient for the future.

Find out more here.

Rappville Community Hall

The opening of a new community hall in Rappville is a testament to the resilience and spirit of the local community who have endured two natural disasters in recent years.

After Rappville's community hall was burnt down in the Black Summer Bushfires, the new hall project was jointly funded by BizRebuild, Richmond Valley Council and the federal government.

The September 2019 Busbys Flat bushfire burnt almost 50 per cent of the local government area and the local community was then hit again floods in early 2022.

Former Governor General and Patron of BizRebuild, Sir Peter Cosgrove, was in Rappville to officially open the new hall, which will form a key part of the community’s revitalisation. 

“Businesses are the glue that keep communities together and this project is not just a building; it’s a symbol of strength, persistence, resilience and courage," Sir Peter Cosgrove said.

Find out more here.