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Recovery and reconstruction

On 20 April 2016, Australia announced an additional package of $20 million to support longer term recovery and reconstruction efforts following Tropical Cyclone (TC) Winston. This funding is focused on returning life to normal in Fiji by rebuilding critical infrastructure.

Australia is helping the Fiji Government to rebuild schools and health facilities destroyed by the cyclone, replace damaged medical equipment and restore water and sanitation services. Australia is also repairing damaged markets and building accommodation facilities for women vendors to enable farmers and vendors to return to work. Australia's focus throughout the recovery work has been on building stronger, more resilient buildings, complying with Fiji's National Building Code and ensuring that all facilities are inclusive for women, children and people with disabilities.

The Australian-funded Markets for Change project assisted women like Manjula Wati to re-establish their market stalls just two weeks after Cyclone Winston. Credit: UN Women/Murray Lloyd

Recovery support to education

Australia provided $14 million to the education sector and successfully repaired or rebuilt 34 damaged or destroyed school, in partnership with the Fiji Government.

Repairs to 16 schools with minor damage were completed in late 2016. The rebuilding of 18 schools that sustained more significant damage began in November 2016, and concluded in 2019. Of these 18 schools, 12 are in Ra province and six are on Koro island. The 18 schools were built to meet or exceed Fiji’s National Building Code, and one school was designed to withstand a Category 5 wind speed, to act as an evacuation point if needed.

Recovery support to health

Australia has committed $3 million to repair health facilities, provide medical equipment and restore water and sanitation services.

Recovery support to markets

Australia committed $3 million to repair or rebuild markets damaged by TC Winston.

The Rakiraki Municipal Market, an excellent example of co-financing between the Australian and Fijian Governments, with Australia contributing $FJD3.2 million (approximately AUD2 million) and Fiji providing the remaining FJD2.64 million (AUD$1.67 million). The majority of the 220 market vendors are women from rural villages in Ra Province. The new women's accommodation centre Australia built adjacent the market will ensure that they are able to sell their goods and maintain their income at all times.

Australia's support to Koro island

Koro island was one of the worst affected parts of Fiji following TC Winston. The HMAS Canberra, one of Australia's largest naval vessels, was positioned off Koro for almost one month following the cyclone, providing engineering teams that restored water supply, cleared debris, repaired schools and health facilities, and supported immediate shelter needs. Since then, we supported the rebuilding of schools and health facilities, and the restoration of water and sanitation facilities. This fact sheet [PDF 188 KB] | [Word 949 KB] provides an overview of ongoing recovery support.