Yesterday, an additional $400 million in recovery funding was announced by the Commonwealth and New South Wales governments to provide support for communities affected by the February and March 2021 storms and floods, including our own Hawkesbury communities.
This third phase of support for our flood-affected communities, will include:
- $79.8m for the NSW Flood Industry Recovery Package: funding for the agriculture, aquaculture and horticulture industries to support immediate and longer-term recovery needs and retention of jobs for eligible producers and businesses. For example, the grants can be accessed by turf farms, vegetable growers, nurseries, oyster farmers and commercial fisheries and be used to build resilience and preparedness, improve the competitiveness of industries, support supply-chain efficiencies, and for product diversification and market expansion.
- $52.5m for the Community Infrastructure Repair Program: targeting infrastructure repair and renewal in partnership with local councils in high to severely impacted disaster-declared LGAs.
- $25.2 million for $10,000 Rural Landholder Grants: grants of up to $10,000 to reimburse rural landholders for the cost of clean-up activities, losses or damages beyond the vicinity of the residential dwelling, not covered by insurance, and for rural landholders who do not qualify for the $75,000 primary producer grant or the $50,000 small business grant.
- $18.5m for the restoration of riverbanks: assisting private landowners, NSW Government Agencies and Councils to ensure post-flood remediation works on riverbanks can be done quickly, are appropriate and consistent with Government policy and regulations, will support the long-term health of the rivers, and protect assets and businesses.
- $14.1m for the Mental Health and Community Wellbeing Program: support for Aboriginal communities; children; and young people impacted by the storms and floods for up to 24 months.
- $4.4m for Local Recovery Resources: assisting severely impacted councils to engage a designated floods Community Recovery Officer for up to 24 months to deliver community-based recovery initiatives and assist people to navigate and access recovery support.
- $1m for volunteer/not-for-profit organisations: helping Volunteer organisations such as BlazeAid to purchase fencing material and equipment to support rural fencing programs in flood-affected communities.
- $200 million Infrastructure Betterment Fund: supporting the reconstruction and improved disaster resilience of public assets damaged during the recent storms and floods, as well as the 2019/20 bushfires.
The National Recovery and Resilience Agency is working with the NSW Government to finalise the details of the programs. Further announcements to advise the details of individual programs will be made in due course.
People requiring ongoing flood assistance, support and referral are urged to contact Service NSW on 13 77 88 or online via service.nsw.gov.au/floods
Information on disaster assistance is available on the Australian Government’s Disaster Assist website at disasterassist.gov.au
