Queensland & New South Wales Flood Support March 2022

The March 2022 floods have impacted tens of thousands of home and business owners in Queensland and New South Wales.

State and Federal Governments have both released financial and other support to those who have lost property, work, sustained injury or have been otherwise affected by the floods. 

This updated guide for Queensland and New South Wales flood victims will outline financial assistance relating to property damages, personal injury, road closures and the inability to work.  

The below information shows the resources found, but we encourage you to follow the links through to the relevant government resources for more information.

Disclaimer: The below information does not replace professional advice and does not take your personal circumstances into account. While the information outlined is presumed correct at time of publication, please consult the corresponding government websites to ensure accuracy and current status. 

Australian Government Assistance for South East Queensland & New South Wales (Updated 14 March 2022)

Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment & Disaster Recovery Allowance.

The Morrison Government has extended the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP) and Disaster Recovery Allowance (DRA) to more residents in flood-affected areas.

Due to the escalating weather event, government support has extended to more Local Government Areas and now closes on the 3 September 2022.

The AGDRP offers $1000 per eligible adult and $400 per eligible child, while the DRA offers eligible residents will be able to receive a taxable short-term payment for a maximum of 13 weeks.

AGDRP recipients who live in Lismore, Clarence Valley and Richmond will receive two more payments of $1,000 due to the scale of impact in those areas.

Eligible Local Government Areas in SEQ & NSW 

South East Queensland residents have until 3 September 2022 to make a claim for the AGDRP and DRA in the following Local Government Areas:

• Brisbane.
• Bundaberg.
• Fraser Coast.
• Gladstone.
• Gold Coast.
• Goondiwindi.
• Gympie.
• Ipswich.
• Lockyer Valley.
• Logan.
• Moreton Bay.
• Noosa.
• North Burnett.
• Redland.
• Scenic Rim.
• Somerset.
• South Burnett.
• Southern Downs.
• Sunshine Coast.
• Toowoomba.
• Western Downs.

New South Wales residents have until 3 September 2022 to make a claim for the AGDRP and DRA in the following Local Government Areas:

• Armidale.
• Ballina.
• Bayside.
• Bega Valley.
• Bellingen.
• Blacktown.
• Blue Mountains.
• Byron.
• Camden.
• Campbelltown.
• Canterbury Bankstown.
• Central Coast.
• Clarence Valley.
• Coffs Harbour.
• Eurobodalla.
• Fairfield.
• Georges River.
• Glen Innes Severn.
• Hawkesbury.
• Hornsby.
• Kempsey.
• Inner West.
• Kiama.
• Ku-ring-gai.
• Kyogle.
• Lismore.
• Liverpool.
• MidCoast.
• Nambucca.
• Newcastle.
• Northern Beaches.
• Parramatta.
• Penrith.
• Port Macquarie/Hastings.
• Richmond Valley.
• Ryde.
• Shellharbour.
• Shoalhaven.
• Sutherland.
• Tenterfield.
• The Hills.
• Tweed.
• Wingecarribee.
• Wollondilly.
• Wollongong.

To be eligible, you or a dependent child you’re a principal carer for, must:

• Be an Australian resident or hold an eligible visa.
• Meet Local Government Area (LGA) rules.
• Claim the payment for the South East QLD Floods, February 2022 for the first time.
• Be 16 years or older at the time of the floods or receiving a social security payment.
• Have been seriously affected by the storms and floods.

Note:

• The Australian Bureau of Statistics figures are used as the average weekly income. On 9 August 2021, this was $1,737.10 per week.
• If you’re a couple, you must claim this payment separately.

Claims can be made via your MyGov account or by calling 180 22 66.

The Temporary Financial Hardship Subsidy

South East Queensland and New South Wales families affected by the weather events may be eligible for the Temporary Financial Hardship Subsidy.

The Acting Minister for Education and Youth, Stuart Robert MP, has promoted the ongoing subsidy as recovery assistance for families and childcare services.

Eligible residents who may be eligible can access up to 100 hours of subsidised care each fortnight for their child.

Residents may be eligible to apply if their homes have been badly damaged or worse due to the flooding event.

To be eligible, you must: 

• Also be eligible for Child Care Subsidy.
• Have experienced temporary financial hardship due to an event that happened in the last 6 months.
• Have a substantially reduced ability to pay child care fees.

South East Queensland Assistance

Extraordinary Disaster Assistance Recovery Grants — South East Queensland Rainfall and Flooding.

The Commonwealth and Queensland Governments have jointly funded $558.5 million to assist South East Queensland businesses affected by the 2022 flood weather events.

Grants of up to $75,000 for primary producers, up to $50,000 for small businesses/not-for-profit organisations, and $20,000 in flood support for sporting and community clubs have been released.

Eligible businesses will be able to use the grant for clean-up, reinstatement activities and emergency measures costs.

To be eligible, your property must be located in one of the following disaster areas:

• Brisbane City Council
• Fraser Coast Regional Council
• Gold Coast City Council
• Gympie Regional Council
• Ipswich City Council
• Lockyer Valley Regional Council
• Logan City Council
• Moreton Bay Regional Council
• Noosa Shire Council
• North Burnett Regional Council
• Redland City Council
• Scenic Rim Regional Council
• Somerset Regional Council
• South Burnett Regional Council
• Southern Downs Regional Council
• Sunshine Coast Regional Council
• Toowoomba Regional Council

Primary Producers, Small Business and Non-Profit Organisation.

• An initial amount of up to $15,000 is available as a direct damage recovery. Photographs, quotations, tax invoices or official receipts will be required as proof of claim.
• The second application will provide the remainder of the grant amount to support subsequent claims for which full evidence of payment is required.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Own a primary producers, small business or non-profit organisation.
• Hold an Australian Business Number (ABN) and have held that ABN at the time of the eligible disaster.
• Own an entity located in the defined disaster area for the eligible disaster.
• Have been engaged in day-to-day operations while affected by the eligible disaster.
• Be primarily responsible for meeting the costs claimed in the application and intend to re-establish the entity in the defined disaster area for the eligible disaster.

Applications close 5 September 2022. You can apply online via the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority website.

Sport and Recreation Disaster Recovery Program.

Sport and active recreation organisations located in areas declared under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) may be eligible for funding of up to $5,000 (Level 1) and $20,000 (Level 2).

To be eligible, organisations must:

• Be located in an DRFA disaster area.
• Be a local or regional not-for-profit organisation with a primary objective relating to sport and active recreation.
• Comply with insurance requirements outlined in the guidelines.

Note: It is recommended to contact your local Sport and Recreation regional office about any enquiries prior to starting the application process.

Applications close May 2022. Apply online via the online grants system log in or by creating an enquire applicant portal account.

Essential Services Hardship Assistance Grant.

The Queensland Government have released the Essential Services Hardship Assistance Grant to support people in immediate need of fixing essential services.

Eligible applicants may receive $150 per person and up to $750 for a family of 5 or more. The grant is initially available to claim for 7 days following the activation of the grant in the persons area.

To be eligible, you must meet the following criteria:

• Your principal place of residence must be in the activation area where loss of power is confirmed by the energy provider.
• Be suffering hardship from the eligible disaster.
• Be impacted by the loss of one or more essential services for more than 5 days.
• Experienced loss of electricity, gas, water and sewerage in some form.

Note: The Essential Services Hardship Assistance grant is not income or asset tested.

Emergency Hardship Assistance Grant.

People who are impacted by a disaster may be able to apply for the Emergency Hardship Assistance Grant. Those who are eligible can receive $180 per person up to $900 for a family of 5 or more.

Those eligible can claim for 7 days following the activation of the grant in their area.

Note: Emergency Hardship Assistance is not income or asset tested.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Live or are stranded in the available activation zone.
• Have experienced hardship as a result of the disaster.
• Be unable to meet your immediate essential needs for food, clothing, medical supplies or temporary accommodation.

Essential Household Contents Grant.

Queensland residents who are uninsured, or unable to claim insurance, may be eligible for the Essential Household Contents Grant.

Grants of up to $1,765 for eligible single adults and up to $5,300 for eligible couples/families are available to replace or repairing essential household contents that have been lost or damaged in a disaster.

To be eligible, you must:

• Live in a disaster-affected area where this grant is activated.
• Qualify under the income test.
• Be either a tenant or an owner-occupier.

Structural Assistance Grant.

Queensland residents who are uninsured or unable to claim insurance may be eligible for a one-off payment as a contribution towards home repairs regarding security and safety.

The Structural Assistance grant will provide up to $10,995 for eligible single adults and up to $14,685 for eligible couples/families.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Live in a disaster-affected area where this grant is activated.
• Own or be the mortgagee of the home, caravan or boat.
• Primarily live in the home, caravan or boat at the time of the disaster.

Essential Services Safety and Reconnection Grant.

The Essential Services Safety and Reconnection Grant is for eligible Queenslanders who are uninsured or unable to claim insurance to help reconnect essential services that were damaged by a disaster.

The two parts of the grant includes inspection and repair:

1. Inspection: Up to $200 towards a safety inspection for each essential service to be reconnection.
2. Repair: Up to $4200 towards repairing the reconnected essential services.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Be a resident in the disaster affected area where this grant is activated.
• Be the owner or mortgagee of the home needing replacing or repairing of essential service/s.
• Qualify under the income test.

Queensland Government Income Test & Application Information.

Your gross (before tax) weekly income must be less than:

• Individual: $988 ($51,398 per year).
• Couple: $1,367 ($71,061 per year).
• Sole parent, one child: $1,368 ($71,110 per year).
• Couple, one child: $1,694 ($88,111 per year).
• (For each additional child add a further $327 per week; for each dependent adult add $378 per week).

Applications for funding provided by the Queensland Government can be found online via the Community Recovery Portal or calling the Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349.

New South Wales Assistance

Disaster Relief Loans — Small Business.

Small businesses directly affected by natural disasters including floods, fires or storm damage may be eligible for loans of up to $130,000.

This is a low-interest rate (0.80%) loan which can help a small business:

• Return to a normal level of trading or until the next major income is received (within 12 months from the date of disaster).
• Replace and repair damages and associated improvements not covered by insurance.

To be eligible, applicants must: 

• Have a business with fewer than 20 full-time (or equivalent) employees.
• Be a registered business, partnership or sole trader.
• Have an Australian Business Number (ABN) and provide the owner with their primary source of gross income (more than 50%).

Find out the eligibility criteria through the Natural Disaster Loan Small Business Guidelines. The application form is available through the NSW Government website.

Disaster Relief Grants for Individuals — Extended.

New South Wales residents impacted by a natural disaster — including the recent Northern NSW floods — can apply for the Disaster Relief Grant.

The financial assistance is to help if a person’s home or essential household contents were damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster.

While the Disaster Relief Grant is to help people re-establish a basic living standard after a disaster, it does not replace insurance or compensate for losses.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Have had their home (primary place of residence) damaged by a natural disaster in Northern New South Wales.
• Not have insurance for the damage.
• Be a low-income earner with limited financial resources.
• Have experienced the disaster within a four-month time frame.

You may not be eligible if any of the following apply:

• Personal lack of maintenance has caused or impacted the damage.
• The damages made to the home is not an essential requirement for safety.

Apply for support by phoning 13 77 88 launch, then ask for the Disaster Relief Grant administered by Resilience NSW.

Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements grants are available for eligible primary producers and small businesses in disaster-declared Local Government Areas from the February 2022 storm and flood event.

The Commonwealth and New South Wales Governments have jointly funded an initial $434.7 million to support farmers, businesses and local councils experiencing direct damage from the 2022 weather events.

The phase one DRFA package includes:

• Estimate initial $111.5 million to assist primary producers.
• Estimate initial $89.7 million to assist small business and not-for-profit organisations.
• $210 million to assist affected communities with clean-up and removal of damages.
• $1 million grants for impacted councils to assist with their immediate social, built, economic and environmental needs.
• $6.5 million to provide Community Recovery Officers to support communities.

The 17 Local Government areas are Armidale, Ballina, Bellingen, Byron, Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour, Glen Innes Severn, Hornsby, Kempsey, Kyogle, Lismore, Nambucca, Port Macquarie/Hastings, Richmond Valley, Tenterfield, The Hills and Tweed.

Primary Producers.

Those eligible for the demand-driven grant can access up to $15,000 up-front to assist with the immediate clean-up and recovery costs, and if required, a further $60,000 to repair more extensive damage to their properties.

Primary producers are encouraged to consult with their local Rural Financial Counselling Service or apply for the scheme so that the RAA can determine eligibility.

Small Businesses.

If you’re a small business or a not-for-profit organisation in NSW and you’ve been directly impacted by storms and floods in February and March 2022, you may be eligible for a storm and flood disaster recovery small business grant.

The demand-driven grant of up to $50,000 is to help pay for the costs of clean-up and reinstatement of a small business or not-for-profit organisation’s operations.

Find the eligibility criteria and application process through the Service NSW website.

Joint Funding for Accommodation and Grants.

An additional Commonwealth and New South Wales Government joint funding of $551.7 million will be provided to support flood-affected communities across New South Wales.

$285.2 million has been allocated for the new Temporary Housing Support package to support Northern River residents needing accommodation while they’re repairing their homes.

The Temporary Housing Support package includes support such as:

• Immediate hotel accommodation for four nights. Limits of four nights’ accommodation can increase while people make interim arrangements.
• Up to $6,000 for an individual and up to $18,000 for a six-person household initial rental costs grant.
• Medium-term accommodation of Mobile Motor Homes and Recreation Camps.
• Extending the Temporary Dwelling Program.

The Recovery Centres and Customer Care specialists will stay open for as long as necessary.

Customer Care specialists are available on 13 77 88.

The Rental Support Scheme 

A Rental Support scheme will be launching in the next couple of weeks to help people whose “homes are uninhabitable as a result of the February-March 2022 storms and floods”.

The 16-week scheme will provide rental support to those living in temporary accommodation.

Payments will vary depending on how many people are in each household, including children.

You can submit your application via the Service NSW website.

Emergency Support for QLD & NSW Flood-Affected Residents

For non-life-threatening assistance, call the SES (132 500). For life-threatening situations call Triple Zero (000).

You can also access NSW storm and flood information, referrals and assistance through 13 77 88.

Browse a full current list of Evacuation Centres from the SES.