Disaster Assist
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Although the immediate threat has passed, people from bushfire-affected communities continue to face challenges as a result of the fires in their short and long term recovery.
The Victorian Bushfires have been extremely devastating, causing high loss of life and property. In response, the Commonwealth Government has announced a comprehensive Recovery Assistance Package to address the psycho-social, economic, infrastructure, and environmental impacts. Assistance is available for individuals, families, communities, businesses, primary producers and local governments.
Further information on this assistance is available from the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority.
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The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP) was made available to people who have been adversely affected by the Victorian Bushfires.
The AGDRP provides a one-off, immediate payment of $1,000 per eligible adult and $400 per child. AGDRP applications closed on 7 August 2009.
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The Income Recovery Subsidy provided assistance to employees, small business operators and farmers who lost income as a result of the bushfires. This Subsidy provided fortnightly payments equivalent to the maximum rate of Newstart allowance depending on the person's circumstances.
It was available to Australian residents or eligible foreign nationals over 16 years of age. Eligible foreign nationals may include people who are on permanent visas (but who have not yet met the residency waiting period) and people who are on temporary skills or temporary family visas.
The Income Recovery Subsidy was announced on 10 February 2009, for an initial period of 13 weeks and was extended for a further 13 weeks on 26 March 2009. A further extension of 13 weeks to 10 November 2009 was made to ensure employees, small businesses and farmers who continued to experience a loss of income as a result of the bushfires were financially supported and had ample time to transition to other longer term arrangements. The Subsidy has now closed.
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The Commonwealth Government acknowledges the hardship faced by those families who have lost a loved one or loved ones. To support these families, assistance for funeral/memorial and related costs has been made available to the immediate family member of an Australian or eligible foreign national who died or was declared missing as a direct result of the Victorian Bushfires in January/February 2009.
Eligible foreign national may include an individual on a permanent, temporary skills or temporary family visa who died or was declared missing as a direct result of the Victorian Bushfires.
This assistance provides $5,000 to one immediate family member for each deceased individual for funeral/memorial and other related costs. Centrelink will work with families to determine the most appropriate family member to receive this assistance.
For more information on eligibility or if you have any queries, please visit the Centrelink website.
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The Commonwealth Government is helping to facilitate the early provision of assistance to disaster affected communities by supporting the Victorian Government under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA).
Under the NDRRA, the Victorian Department of Human Services is delivering temporary living and re-establishment grants depending on the size of a household. A Temporary Living Expense Grant up to a maximum of $8,650 may be available. The Re-establishment grant is also available and has two components. A maximum payment of up to $8,650 for repairs to structural damage to a residence and up to $8,650 to replace essential household contents such as furnishings and electrical goods is available. These payments will close on 31 December 2009. This payment has now closed.
There are currently 25 local government areas eligible for assistance under the NDRRA. These are: Alpine, Baw Baw, Cardinia, Corangamite, Greater Bendigo, Hepburn, Horsham, Indigo, Latrobe, Macedon Ranges, Mitchell, Mount Alexander, Murrindindi, Nillumbik, Southern Grampians, Wangaratta, Wellington, West Wimmera, Whittlesea, Yarra Ranges, Lake Mountain Alpine Resort, South Gippsland, Knox, Greater Dandenong and Casey.
For information on other assistance available, contact the Victorian Department of Human Services on 1800 240 667 or your local council.
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The Victorian Bushfire Case Management Service has been established to support people affected by the bushfires with matters such as accommodation, finance, employment, education, counselling, health and legal services, and other personal assistance. It is being delivered through a partnership arrangement with Commonwealth agencies, state agencies, local government and funded not-for-profit organisations.
To register with this service, please call the Victorian Bushfire Case Management Line on 1800 050 400 or visit the Victorian Case Management Service website.
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The Commonwealth Government is providing $7.5 million of funding for mental health support to individuals and communities. This assistance builds on services being provided through Centrelink social workers, psychologists and case managers.
Additional telephone-based counselling services are available to respond to broader levels of distress within the Victorian community, and support through community organisations to assist affected communities to reconnect and psychologically recover from the impact of the trauma over the long term.
Additional counselling services are being provided through a $200,000 boost to five community organisations delivering the Commonwealth Government's Family Relationship Services Program: Centacare Sandhurst, Goulburn Valley Family Day Care, Eastern Access Community Health, Upper Hume Community Health and Centacare Melbourne.
The Victorian Government and the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund are also providing a range of counselling support to those who have been affected by the bushfires.
For information on couselling assistance available, contact the Victorian Department of Human Services on 1800 240 667 or your local council.
Generalist financial counselling services, funded by both Commonwealth and Victorian Governments, are available for people affected by the bushfires. For more information about these services contact the Financial & Consumer Rights Council Inc by phone 1800 134 139
For information on how banks, building societies and credit unions can help people to cope see the Managing financial distress following a natural disaster fact sheet.
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Job seekers who volunteered to help with clean-up and recovery efforts, or who live in locations where job opportunities have effectively been eliminated, were shown leniency and were not asked to look for work for an initial period of 13 weeks.
Job seekers who have been personally impacted by the bushfires (including but not limited to damage to housing and loss of loved ones) may also have been subject to a waiver of compliance obligations for a period.
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Australian Hearing provided services to people with hearing impairments, including replacement hearing aids, minor repairs and battery replacement. Assessments were also be performed for anyone else who experienced difficulties with hearing loss – including for people who are not existing Australian Hearing customers.
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Working together, Medicare, Centrelink and the Victorian Government are helping affected individuals re-establish their identity. This will ensure that payments are delivered to people efficiently in this difficult time. Anyone seeking more information or assistance in replacing identity documents or who require additional support at this time is encouraged to contact Centrelink and Medicare Australia staff in Relief and Recovery Centres and Community Service Hubs and Centrelink and Medicare offices across Victoria.
The Victorian Government is providing services related to replacement licenses, birth, marriage or change of name certificates. Details can be found on the Victoria Online Bushfire Information page.
Australians or foreign nationals wishing to re-acquire copies of documents issued by foreign countries (e.g. overseas birth certificates or marriage certificates, foreign passports etc) should in the first instance contact the nearest Embassy, High Commission or Consulate of the relevant foreign country. A list of all foreign missions and consulates in Australia, together with their contact details, can be found on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.
If you are unable to contact the relevant Embassy, High Commission or Consulate, or you experience difficulties in obtaining the foreign-issued documents you require, contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555135 (for the cost of a local call within Australia).
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The Commonwealth has provided a $1.5 million package of support for aged care providers and clients. As part of this package, the Australian Government provided payments of up to $10,000 to assist frail, older people and their carers replace uninsured independent living aids lost in the fires. Applications closed on 30 October 2009. In addition, the package included $500,000 for the Victorian Government for extra Home and Community Care (HACC) Program Services as well as additional funding for extra aged care assessments for people living in fire affected regions.
Elderly people in Bushfire-affected areas needing a range of support, assistance and care may contact a Relief Centre or Recovery Centre or Community Service Hub in their local community or if they are outside of the affected area call the Victorian Case Management Service on 1800 050 400.
Elderly people needing temporary care may contact the nearest Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centre on 1800 059 059 (freecall) or if they are outside the affected area they may approach their local community service provider or residential service.
In a one-off measure, the Commonwealth Government has removed the need for aged care assessments for older Victorians affected by the Bushfires so they can access short-term or temporary nursing home or community care as quickly as possible. For more information call the Aged Care Information Line on 1800 500 853.
The Commonwealth Government provided $220,000 for Victorian community legal centres to help Victorians affected by the Bushfire.
For more information visit Victoria Legal Aid or call the Bushfire Legal Helpline on 1800 113 432.
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The Tax Office established a dedicated Emergency Support Info Line (1300 304 975) to help people and businesses affected by the bushfires. A number of measures were put in place to ease the burden on people suffering personal and financial loss including:
The Tax Office is also helping by:
For more information, including extension dates, call the Emergency Support Info Line 1300 304 975 or visit the Australian Taxation Office website.
The Family Court of Australia and the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia will waive the normal fees for supplying copies of Court documents to people who have lost records during the recent Bushfires in Victoria.
For more information, call the Family Law Courts National Enquiry Centre, 1300 352 000 or visit the What’s New?” section on the Family Law Courts website
The ‘Rebuilding Together’ Plan was launched on Friday, 16 October 2009, at Flowerdale by the Prime Minister and Premier Brumby.
The Plan provides a further $193 million to deliver the next steps in the reconstruction and recovery process for fire-affected communities, with:
The Commonwealth is contributing $52.31 million to the Plan, in addition to the nearly $400 million already committed by the Commonwealth towards the bushfire recovery effort.
The Plan sets out the rebuilding priorities which have been driven by local communities, to rebuild their essential town buildings and services, to generate business growth and investment and to rehabilitate key local attractions central to their future prosperity and includes:
More information, including the Statewide Plan and fact sheets that relate to specific communities, is available at We Will Rebuild.
The Commonwealth and Victorian Governments are providing support to those small businesses and primary producers directly affected by the Victorian Bushfires through a $51 million joint package.
The available assistance includes:
For more information on the grants to primary producers and small businesses and the concessional interest rate loans contact the Rural Finance Corporation on 1800 255 925.
For more information on business advice and counselling service contact Business Victoria hotline on 13 22 15 or via Business Victoria.
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The Commonwealth and Victorian Governments provided support to help communities to rebuild through a program for site clean-up and demolition. Grocon was contracted to deliver this assistance which was voluntary and offered free of charge. The cleanup is now complete.
The Commonwealth and Victorian Governments established a $10 million Community Recovery Fund to help recovery and community development following the Bushfires. The Fund is intended to address longer-term recovery through the restoration of social networks, functioning and community facilities. The Fund covers a range of projects such as the restoration of community infrastructure, community preparedness and resilience building activities.
In recognition of the importance of sporting facilities in regional and rural communities, $3 million from the Community Recovery Fund has been set aside for grants, of up to $100, 000 each, for sports clubs in Bushfire-affected areas for rebuilding and reparation works.
To help with the healing process, $2.5 million from the Community Recovery Fund has been set aside for memorials.
More information is available on the Grants@DPCD website administered by the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development.
The Commonwealth and Victorian Governments are providing support to regional tourism operators who have been affected economically by the bushfires through a $10 million Tourism Industry Support Package.
The Package, to be rolled out between March 2009 and June 2011, will provide:
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The Commonwealth Government has announced an additional $80.4 million over three years in Emergency Relief Funding. The Commonwealth Government provided an additional $6 million of funding to meet the need for immediate assistance for families affected by the Bushfires.
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The Victorian Government will have the ability to draw on its share of the Commonwealth Government’s $6.4 billion Social Housing Fund which was announced as part of the Nation Building and Jobs Plan. This will be used to respond to social housing needs in bushfire-affected areas. 11 new affordable homes are to be built in Marysville and Kinglake to replace public housing properties destroyed in the bushfires.
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The Commonwealth Government provided councils in the natural disaster affected areas of Victoria with the opportunity to reprioritise their projects under the Government’s $250 million Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program. This will enable councils to better meet the need of locals affected by this natural disaster.
All Victorian councils had their local government Financial Assistance Grants brought forward from 15 May 2009 to 23 February 2009.
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The Victorian Government is able to draw on its share of funding under the Commonwealth Government’s $14.7 billion Building the Education Revolution Program. This will enable the Victorian Government to give priority to the construction of school infrastructure in communities affected by bushfires.
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The Commonwealth Government’s $10.8 million Caring for our Country Bushfire Recovery Program is providing assistance to landholders and to community, local government and non-government organisations to undertake targeted natural resource management bushfire recovery activities to eligible fire effected regions of Victoria.
Commonwealth funding Is provided to eligible Catchment Management Austorities (CMAs) via the Victorian Department of Environment and Sustainability.
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The Victorian Government is also providing a range of assistance measures to help people affected by the Victorian Bushfires. These are being overseen by the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority (VBRRA).
The Authority is responsible for coordinating the community recovery and rebuilding effort of all Local, State and Commonwealth Government agencies and many of the community organisations contributing to the disaster response.
We Will Rebuild has been launched by the VBRRA to help keep people up to date with the recovery and rebuilding process.
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The Commonwealth and Victorian Governments each committed $2 million to the Fund.
An independent panel of community leaders initially chaired by the Hon. John Landy AC, and now the Hon Pat McNamara is overseeing the operation of the Appeal Fund.
The Appeal Fund has made a wide a range of assistance available including:
For further information about payments available under the Appeal Fund contact the Victorian Government Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund website or call 1800 180 213.
Almost all of the Appeal Fund’s 26 financial support packages for individuals close on 31 December, 2009. The Appeal Fund is encouraging people directly impacted by the 2009 bushfires who have not applied for any or some of the available payments to do so within the next few weeks.