Types of crisis assistance
The Commonwealth and Victorian Governments occasionally provide limited one-off financial assistance to people impacted by disasters. You may be able to apply for an immediate income support payment even if you are not already receiving a Centrelink benefit. The type of payment or assistance that you may be able to receive will depend on your circumstances. This page provides links to relevant schemes run by the federal and state governments for people in Victoria.
Emergency assistance
The Victorian Government Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) website has information on how you and your family can access financial and material support if you are caught in a major emergency such as a bushfire, severe storm, flood or earthquake.
In the aftermath of an emergency, you and your household might be eligible for emergency funds from the Personal Hardship Assistance Program run by Victoria’s DFFH.
The Personal Hardship Assistance Program offers two different types of funds:
- emergency relief assistance
- emergency re-establishment assistance.
Emergency relief assistance
The DFFH can provide you with a one-off emergency relief payment after a house fire or any other natural emergency, as long as you meet eligibility requirements. This payment is provided to help meet immediate needs, including food, shelter, clothing, medication and accommodation. This assistance is not currently available for a major emergency.
Emergency relief payments are paid to recipients using prepaid debit cards. To read more about what the card can be used for, please visit the Victorian Government website.
Emergency relief assistance is means tested, meaning it is only eligible if you:
- do not have home or contents insurance
- are experiencing financial hardship.
To be able to receive emergency relief assistance, you can:
- call VicEmergency on 1800 226 226
- visit the VicEmergency Relief page
- contact your local council.
Emergency re-establishment assistance
You can apply for Emergency Re-establishment Assistance if you cannot:
- live in your home because it is damaged or destroyed, or
- access your home for more than seven days because of flooding.
Re-establishment Assistance can help to pay for clean-up, emergency accommodation, repairs, rebuilding your home or replacing some damaged contents.
Re-establishment Assistance is means tested, meaning you can only get it if you:
- do not have home or contents insurance
- are experiencing financial hardship.
If you need this type of assistance, you can contact the Emergency Recovery Hotline on 1800 560 760.
Disaster Recovery Allowance
The Commonwealth Government’s Disaster Recovery Allowance assists people who have been adversely affected by disasters in various local government areas. More information about help in an emergency is available at Services Australia.
Advance lump-sum payment for people on benefits
You may receive part of your Centrelink income support payment or Family Tax Benefit (Part A) early. If you are granted advance payments, you will be required to pay it back later out of your payments from Centrelink. To assess your eligibility for an advance payment, visit the Services Australia website.
Crisis payment for people on benefits
This is a one-off payment. To be eligible to receive this payment you must be eligible for an income support payment or ABSTUDY Living Allowance and be experiencing severe financial hardship. This may include situations where you've:
- experienced family violence
- had to leave your home because of a natural or other disaster that's not covered by a disaster relief payment
- entered Australia as a Humanitarian Entrant for the first time
- been released from prison or psychiatric confinement.
Use the Commonwealth Government’s Payment and Service finder to check if you are eligible.
Special benefit
To receive this payment you must be:
- ineligible for any other income support payment
- in severe financial hardship for reasons beyond your control.
Find out more about the Special Benefit on the Services Australia website.
Carer adjustment payment
This is a one-off payment if your child under seven years of age contracts a severe illness or has a major disability. To receive this one-off payment you must:
- provide full-time care for a child under seven years of age who has either a severe medical condition or a severe disability
- receive Carer Allowance for the child
- have a very strong need for financial help
- not be receiving the Carer Payment through yourself or your partner
- unable to receive another income support payment from the Commonwealth Government.
Additionally, your child must:
- need this care for at least two months
- have the severe medical condition or disability because of a catastrophic event.
Find out more about the Carer adjustment payment on the Services Australia website.
Additional Child Care Subsidy Temporary Financial Hardship
To be eligible for this temporary subsidy, you must:
- be eligible for the Child Care Subsidy
- have experienced temporary financial hardship due to an event that happened in the last six months
- have a substantially reduced ability to pay childcare fees.
Find out more about the Additional Child Care Subsidy Temporary Financial Hardship on the Services Australia website.
Pension loan schemes
This scheme allows older Australians to receive a voluntary non-taxable fortnightly loan from the Commonwealth. You and your partner may use this to supplement your retirement income.
You must meet all of the following criteria:
- you or your partner are of Age Pension age
- you receive or are eligible to receive a qualifying pension
- you or your partner owns real estate in Australia that you can use as security for the loan
- you have adequate and appropriate insurance covering the real estate offered as security
- you are not bankrupt or subject to a personal insolvency agreement
- you agree to the terms and conditions of the Pension Loan Scheme.
Find out more about the Pension Loan Scheme on the Department of Social Services website.
Early release of superannuation
You may be able to obtain an early release of your superannuation to help with unpaid expenses. You can apply based on compassionate grounds to the Australian Taxation Office or apply on severe financial hardship grounds to your super fund.
For more information, see our page on Superannuation – Early Access.
Other free and voluntary services
The Commonwealth Government's social workers provide short-term counselling, information, and can refer you to other services, including mental health support services.
The Commonwealth Government's Community Engagement Officers help you access payments and services and can connect you with other forms of support.
You can use Centrepay to pay bills and expenses as regular deductions from your Centrelink payments. This can make it easy for you to budget. Centrepay also provides a range of other services and information to help you manage your payments or get extra support.
The Financial Information Service (FIS) can help you when you need to make decisions about your current and future financial needs. To speak to the FIS, call them on 132 300 or visit the Commonwealth website.
MoneySmart is an initiative of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to help people with their financial matters. Their guide to managing insurance issues after an emergency covers:
- tips for handling your insurance claim after an emergency
- tips for buying the right insurance
- the risk of under-insuring.
Where to get help
For legal information and referrals, call Disaster Legal Help Victoria on 1800 113 432 (Monday to Friday, 8 am to 6 pm). You can also contact your closest community legal centre to get advice from a local lawyer.
For more support options, see Other organisations that can help or find Other ways to contact us.
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