23 Mar NSW Floods Assistance – March 2021
NSW Flood Assistance – March 2021
How can we help?
Updated: 8/4/21
With all that has gone on in the last few days in our regions, we send out our most heartfelt condolences to the businesses and homes that have been affected by the ongoing floods.
Given that both the Federal and NSW governments have declared the following regions as national disasters, following on from severe storms and floods from the 10th March 2021 onwards, means that recovery assistance is now available for anyone that resides in these areas.
Affected Local Government Areas:
- Armidale
- Bellingen
- Blacktown
- Blue Mountains
- Camden
- Campbelltown
- Canterbury Bankstown
- Central Coast
- Cessnock
- Clarence Valley
- Coffs Harbour
- Cumberland
- Dungog Shire
- Fairfield
- Hawkesbury
- The Hills
- Hornsby
- Inner West
- Kempsey
- Ku-ring-gai
- Lake Macquarie
- Liverpool
- Maitland
- Mid-Coast
- Nambucca
- Newcastle
- Northern Beaches
- Parramatta
- Penrith
- Port Macquarie-Hastings
- Port Stephens
- Sutherland
- Tenterfield
- Wollondilly
NSW Government Assistance
Given the NSW Government has issued a total of 34 Natural Disaster Declarations, assistance is now available thru a number of funding packages, that will be triggered by the Government, as the impacts of the floods are assessed.
For example:
- help for eligible people whose homes or belongings have been damaged;
- support for affected local councils to help with the costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged essential public assets;
- concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers and non-profit organisations;
- freight subsidies for primary producers, and
- grants to eligible non-profit organisations.
For information call Disaster Customer Care Service on 13 77 88 or www.service.nsw.gov.au/
Business Assistance
The Small Business Commissioner has immediately announced concessional loans, available to small business and primary producers now – click HERE to find out more.
Insurance Assistance
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared a ‘Catastrophe’ for large parts of NSW following
the devastating storms and flooding of the last few days. The ICA’s Catastrophe Declaration serves to
escalate and prioritise the insurance industry’s response for affected policyholders.
Their disaster hotline, should you require it, is 1800 734 621.
Small Business Recovery Grants
The Australian and NSW Governments have just agreed to provide recovery grants to small businesses of up to $50,000 and grants to primary producers of up to $75,000 where direct damage has occurred, on a cost shared basis. For more information, click HERE to find out more.
Bank Assistance
Top 4 banks, flood emergency assistance packages:
Commonwealth Bank – CBA Flood Emergency Assistance
Westpac Bank – Westpac Disaster Assistance
National Australia Bank – NAB Flood Assistance
ANZ – ANZ Disaster Relief Information
Federal Government Assistance
Assistance is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), starting immediately. There are currently two programs that are immediately available to you if you are experiencing hardship or losses due to the current flood disaster.
1) The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP) provides one-off financial assistance to eligible Australians adversely affected by the storms and floods. The AGDRP is a lump sum payment to help you if a declared disaster significantly affects you. It is not for minor damage or inconvenience.
The rate of AGDRP is $1000 per eligible adult and $400 per eligible child. Claims for this payment can be lodged with Services Australia for a period up to 6 months.
AGDRP is available for people who have been seriously injured, have lost their homes or whose homes have been directly damaged, whose major assets have been directly damaged or are the immediate family members of a person who has died as a direct result of the storms and floods.
For more information and how to apply, please go to the Services Australia AGDRP page.
2) The Disaster Recovery Allowance (DRA) is a short-term payment to help you if a declared disaster directly affects your income.
You can get it for a maximum of 13 weeks. The allowance will be paid from the date you lose income as a direct result of the New South Wales floods in March 2021.
This allowance is open to employees or business owners who can demonstrate that they have lost income due to the March 2021 floods.
The maximum payment rate is the equivalent of Job Seeker or Youth allowance payment and will be assessed based on your circumstances, particularly the income that you received before the floods.
For more information and how to apply, please go to the Services Australia DRA page.
Finally, if you need to talk to someone regarding your situation, please call 180 22 66
Please note that this page will be updated as new information becomes available.