Australian Bushfires Response
Australia is grateful for the range of offers of sympathy and support from Sri Lankans and the international community for the bushfires. Australia is well organised and wellresourced to respond, but the scale and heart-breaking impact of these bushfires is unprecedented. An initial $ 2 billion is being allocated under a National Bushfire Recovery Fund to kickstart recovery, rebuilding and resilience measures.
We welcome support from Sri Lankans and international partners in helping to spread the message that Australia remains open for business, with international visitors welcome.
Australia remains open for business and trading partners can continue to have confidence in Australian agriculture and food exports. While the bushfires are expected to have some impact on business and industry, we are coming from a strong base and the Australian government is invested in ensuring all support is made available for a strong recovery.
Australia’s political stability, strong legal and regulatory frameworks, highly skilled workforce and strong trade partnerships make it a safe and reliable place to invest.
Trading partners can continue to have confidence in the quality and safety of Australian agriculture and food exports, which are underpinned by world class industry quality assurance and government certification arrangements.
Australia will continue to be a worldleading and safe tourism destination, whether in unaffected regions or those that will recover from these bushfires in the months and years to come. There are many regions within Australia that remain unaffected and will continue to offer tourists the incredible tourism experiences that our country is known for. We continue to market all the wonderful things about Australia and our people to the world. We would encourage all to visit Australia.com for up to date advice on tourism destinations in Australia.
Australia remains open for business and trading partners can continue to have confidence in Australian agriculture and food exports. Australian farmers have a wellearned reputation for ingenuity and resilience in the face of difficult conditions. Our agricultural and food exports continue to be underpinned by world-class industry quality assurance and government certification arrangements. Fires and smoke have affected freight and logistics in rural and urban areas which is slowing the flow of products and services in some cases. Customers, clients and partners of Australian suppliers to contact those suppliers directly for updates.
On education, the majority of Australia’s education providers have not been directly impacted by the recent bushfires. Most destinations in Australia remain safe and continue to welcome both visitors and students. The majority of universities and education institutions have been in contact with students and agents providing information for those students commencing in Semester One, 2020. Students preparing to come to Australia to study should contact their institution if they have any specific queries or concerns. Students currently in Australia are being advised to reach out to their institution support services if they feel distressed or anxious about the bushfire situation.
The Australian Government has an active programme on disaster prevention and preparedness with the support of partners. Once the recovery is well underway, we will then focus on building the resilience of our communities to future events.