Australia is going into stricter lockdown and many businesses are being forced to close.
Not good news for employees. Not good news for businesses. Lives are more important than money, but we still need to pay for things during this time. Thankfully the government is providing some support, but you may be looking for dividend shares that can provide reliable income.
With that in mind, here are three dividend shares that can provide defensive and reliable dividend income:
Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)
We all need to keep eating food during this period. Rural Funds isn't an operating business, it's a farmland real estate investment trust (REIT) that generates rental income from its high-quality tenants like Select Harvests Limited (ASX: SHV), Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE), Olam, JBS and others.
It has rental increases built into its contracts with growth linked to either a fixed 2.5% increase or CPI inflation, with market reviews.
The REIT has already reaffirmed its FY21 distribution guidance of 11.28 cents per unit, so the current yield is around 6%.
Coles Group Limited (ASX: COL)
It's been a challenging few weeks for supermarkets to keep in-demand items on the shelves. Coles said it had done three Christmases in three weeks. Though it wasn't Christmas hams that were in demand, more like pasta, toilet paper and flour.
High demand should mean good results for Coles. Supermarkets are pretty defensive anyway and this period is showing how essential supermarkets are in times of crisis.
Coles hasn't been a separate business for long, but I imagine it will want to keep paying a solid dividend just like Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) has over the years.
FY22 could be the first year of normal operations for Coles. It has a projected FY22 grossed-up dividend yield of 5.3%.
Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)
Brickworks is a business with different segments. The industrial property trust and its investments can supply a reliable stream of dividends and net rental income to the company during this difficult time while the building products side of things goes through a temporary reduction.
In terms of the dividend it has maintained or grown its dividend each year for over 40 years. That's some great dividend reliability, though a pandemic is a bit different to deal with.
It currently has a grossed-up dividend yield of 5.25%.
Foolish takeaway
Each of these dividend shares have the foundations to deliver solid income in the coming years. At the current prices I'd go for Rural Funds for short-term income because of its locked-in contracts, but for the longer-term I think Brickworks could deliver more growth.
