Disaster Assist
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In early 2009, bushfires devastated Victoria, causing unprecedented loss of life and property. The Victorian Coroner’s Office confirmed that 173 people lost their lives during the fires, which directly impacted 51 townships, destroying over 2,000 homes, along with many businesses, schools and kindergartens.
The Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority’s 12 Month Report was released in February 2010. The report provides an update on the progress communities have made in the first 12 months and the programs put in place to support this. Details about the programs underway are outlined in 12 Month Report at the We Will Rebuild website.
The Victorian bushfires were extremely devastating, causing high loss of life and property. In response, the Australian Government announced a comprehensive Recovery Assistance Package to address the psycho-social, economic, infrastructure, and environmental impacts. Assistance was provided for individuals, families, communities, businesses, primary producers and local governments. The Australian Government’s financial contribution has included more than $465 million towards the reconstruction and recovery efforts.
The Australian and Victorian Governments jointly released in October 2009 Rebuilding Together: A Statewide Plan for Reconstruction and Recovery, which provides $193 million for rebuilding and recovery. This funding goes towards projects to replace major community facilities, including schools damaged or destroyed in the fires, to support people as they rebuild their lives and their homes, and to kick-start the economic and environmental recovery of those communities.
A National Partnership Agreement between the Australian and Victorian Governments is in place to facilitate the Australian Government’s contribution towards the Rebuilding Together Plan. A copy of the National Partnership Agreement on the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Plan can be found on the Federal Financial Relations website.
As Victoria moves into the long-term recovery phase, we wish to inform members of the public that the Australian Government Victorian Bushfires Hotline is no longer operational; however interested individuals will be able to contact the Victorian Bushfire Information Line on 1800 240 667 up until January 2011 or if further information is required by visiting the We Will Rebuild website.
Following the devastating ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires on 7 February 2009, the Bushfire Assist Ideas mailbox was created for people to contribute their ideas on how the Government could best support the affected communities. The Bushfire Assist Ideas mailbox has now closed. Queries related to assistance for those impacted by the bushfire disaster, or any other disaster event, can be sent to disasterassist@fahcsia.gov.au.
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More than $82 million in direct financial assistance has been provided to more than 63,000 adversely affected individuals through the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment, the Income Recovery Subsidy and Funeral/Memorial Assistance.
The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP) was available through Centrelink to people who were adversely affected by the Victorian bushfires. The AGDRP provided a one-off, immediate payment of $1,000 per eligible adult and $400 per child. This payment closed on 7 August 2009.
Eligibility for the AGDRP was open to people:
A person could only be paid the AGDRP once in relation to the Victorian bushfires.
Psychological Trauma
A person was considered to have experienced psychological trauma if they were in the immediate area of the disaster and any of the following occurred:
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 includes 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 Australian Government acknowledges the hardship faced by those families who lost a loved one or loved ones. To support these families, assistance for funeral/memorial and related costs was 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 and February 2009.
Eligible foreign national included 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 provided $5,000 to one immediate family member for each deceased individual for funeral/memorial and other related costs. Centrelink worked with families to determine the most appropriate family member to receive this assistance.
The Australian Government helped 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 delivered 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 was available. The Re-establishment grant was also available and had 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 was available.
Twenty-five local government areas were 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.
The Victorian Bushfire Case Management Service was 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 Australian Government 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.
The service will be available until February 2011.
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The Australian Government provided $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 Australian Government's Family Relationship Services Program: Centacare Sandhurst, Goulburn Valley Family Day Care, Eastern Access Community Health, Upper Hume Community Health and Centacare Melbourne.
Further resources to aid the emotional and psychological recovery of bushfire affected communities were provided. Two DVDs on post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder, were produced by the Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health (ACPMH) in collaboration with the Rural Health Education Foundation and were distributed free of charge through the Rural Health Foundation and the ACPMH. The resource is available for doctors, health practitioners and individuals and families affected by trauma.
Grants of $1,000 have been provided to General Practitioner practices to enable immediate infrastructure modification to accommodate additional mental health staff and functions. The Rural Workforce Agency Victoria, is coordinating volunteer health professionals in affected areas, and administering assistance provided to doctors and nurses for travel and accommodation costs.
Generalist financial counselling services, funded by both Australian and Victorian Governments, were 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 following a disaster see the Managing financial distress following a natural disaster fact sheet.
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The Australian 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.
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Job seekers who volunteered to help with clean-up and recovery efforts, or who lived in locations where job opportunities had effectively been eliminated, were shown leniency and were not asked to look for work for an initial period of 13 weeks. A fact sheet was available through the Centrelink Customer Service Centres to advise job seekers of these special arrangements.
Job seekers who were 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.
Working together, Medicare, Centrelink and the Victorian Government helped affected individuals re-establish their identity. This ensured that payments were delivered to people efficiently in this difficult time.
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).
The Australian Government increased its support for older Victorians affected by the bushfires by providing an additional $1.5 million in emergency funding to help cover costs of emergency nursing home care and mechanical aids/personal care items lost in the bushfires. As a part of this funding, the Australian Government provided up to $500,000 to the Victorian Government to provide additional Home and Community Care services.
Elderly people in bushfire affected areas needing a range of support, assistance and care may contact the Victorian Bushfire 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 Australian Government removed the need for aged care assessments for older Victorians affected by the bushfires so they could access short-term or temporary nursing home or community care as quickly as possible. Information on aged care assessments can be found by calling the Aged Care Information Line on 1800 500 853.
The Australian Government provided $220,000 for Victorian community legal centres to help Victorians affected by the bushfires.
For more information visit Victoria Legal Aid or call the Bushfire Legal Helpline on 1800 113 432.
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 also helped by:
The Australian and Victorian Governments provided support to those small businesses and primary producers directly affected by the Victorian bushfires through a $51 million joint package. These payments closed on 18 August 2009.
The available assistance included:
The grants to primary producers and small businesses were administered by the Rural Finance Corporation. The Corporation can be contacted on 1800 255 925.
For more information on business advice and counselling service contact the Business Victoria hotline on 13 22 15 or via Business Victoria.
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The Australian 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 was 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 was set aside for memorials.
The Government provided $1.75 million for Community Development Officers to work with individual local councils and communities to assist with the delivery of recovery services, community development programs and the development of community recovery plans.
Community grants funding of $2.75 million has been allocated to local councils to support:
regeneration of community spaces
More information is available on the Grants@DPCD website administered by the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development.
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The Australian and Victorian Governments have provided support to regional tourism operators who have been affected economically by the bushfires through a $10 million Tourism Industry Support Package.
The Package rolled out between March 2009 and June 2011 provided:
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The Australian Government announced an additional $80.4 million over three years in Emergency Relief Funding. The Australian 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 Australian Government provided $2.4 million, under the pre-existing $6.4 billion Social Housing Initiative, towards the building of 11 affordable housing units in Marysville and Kinglake.
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The Australian Government provided councils in the natural disaster affected areas of Victoria with the opportunity to reprioritise their projects under its $250 million Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program. This enabled 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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Bushfire affected areas were given priority access to draw on Victoria’s share of the Australian Government’s $14.7 billion Building the Education Revolution Program. A total of $1.85 million has been directly allocated to reconstruct facilities in three bushfire affected schools (Marysville Primary School, Middle King Lake, and Strathewen Primary School).
Families that were affected by the Victorian Bushfires were able to access Special Child Care Benefit to help cover the full fees of child care in an approved child care service for a period of up to 13 weeks. For further information about Special Child Care Benefit, contact the Family Assistance Office on 13 6150.
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The Australian 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 for eligible fire affected regions of Victoria.
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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 VBRRA has been established by the Victorian Government in partnership with the Australian Government and is headed by former Police Chief Commissioner, Ms Christine Nixon.
The Authority is responsible for coordinating the community recovery and rebuilding effort of all Local, State and Australian Government agencies and many of the community organisations contributing to the disaster response.
In October 2009, the Australian and Victorian Governments jointly launched “Rebuilding Together: A Statewide Plan for Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery’ (Rebuilding Together Plan). The Plan represents the framework for community recovery and the restoration of core services and infrastructure following the 2009 Victorian bushfires. VBRRA will continue to oversee and coordinate the recovery and rebuilding program until January 2011 at which time it will handover to the Victorian Government.
The ‘Rebuilding Together Plan’ commits $193 million to deliver hundreds of projects with $117 million from the Australian and Victorian Governments, $56 million from the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund and $20 million in philanthropic and corporate donations.
The website ‘We Will Rebuild’ is available to help keep people up to date with the recovery and rebuilding process.
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The 2009 Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund, set up by the Victorian Government in partnership with the Australian Government and the Australian Red Cross, closed on 17 April 2009, raising $389 million.
The Australian and Victorian Governments each committed $2 million to the Fund.
An independent panel of community leaders chaired by the Hon Pat J McNamara is overseeing the operation of the Appeal Fund. Some of the payments and grants available included:
For further information contact the Victorian Government Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund website or call 1800 180 213.
In February 2010, VBRRA released the report, 12 Month Report, providing an update on the rebuilding progress. The report is available at the We Will Rebuild website.