Media Release: Disaster assistance following severe bushfires across NSW
Monday, 23 October 2023Joint media release Senator the Hon Murray Watt Minister for Emergency Management with the Hon Jihad Dib MP
Disaster assistance is now available in several parts of NSW to help communities recovering from severe bushfires.
Jointly funded by the Australian and NSW Governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), the assistance has been activated for the Inverell, Kyogle, and Tenterfield Local Government Areas (LGAs) (for bushfires on 13 October 2023 onwards) and Mid-Western LGA (for bushfires on 17 October onwards).
Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Senator the Hon Murray Watt said the bushfires caused significant damage.
“The Australian Government is supporting impacted communities with this early assistance, so recovery can begin as soon as possible for those directly affected,” Minister Watt said.
“While we move quickly to activate this early assistance, we also continue to work alongside the NSW Government to collect information and fully understand the impact of these fires.”
NSW Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib said bushfire impacted communities, landowners, farmers, and primary producers will be supported in their clean-up and recovery.
“The NSW Government is committed to seeing communities get back on their feet as quickly as possible, which is why we’ve worked swiftly to make sure directly impacted people can access this funding and start their recovery,” Minister Dib said.
“We remain dedicated to NSW communities in the face of hazards and will be there long before a disaster strikes and long after the disaster has passed.”
Assistance available under the DRFA may include:
Help for eligible people whose homes or belongings have been damaged (eligibility criteria apply)
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, and
Freight subsidies for primary producers.
For information relating to financial assistance, replacing lost documents, location of your nearest recovery centre and more, please contact Service NSW on 137 788 or visit nsw.gov.au
To apply for a concessional loan or primary producer grant, contact the NSW Rural Assistance Authority on 1800 678 593 or visit www.raa.nsw.gov.au
Further information on disaster assistance can be found on the Australian Government’s Disaster Assist website at www.disasterassist.gov.au