A range of assistance is available to help the flood-affected communities of Berrigan, Cobar, Edward River, Federation, Hay, Leeton, Murray River and Snowy Valleys. Assistance includes:
- 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 eligible small businesses, primary producers and non-profit organisations
- freight subsidies for eligible primary producers
- grants to eligible non-profit organisations.
Recovery grants of up to $10,000 are also available to eligible primary producers in the:
- banana sector in Ballina, Coffs Harbour, Kempsey, Nambucca and Tweed
- shellfish sector in Bega, Byron, Eurobodalla, Nambucca, Shoalhaven and Tweed.
Assistance is provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA).
NSW Deputy Premier Troy Grant said the additional assistance takes the total number of disaster declared local government areas to 42 and will speed up the recovery process for many communities affected by floods, as well as help banana growers and shellfish producers recover from substantial losses following the storms and floods.
“These recovery grants are in addition to the concessional loans and freight subsidy assistance that has already been made available to primary producers in response to this disaster,” Mr Grant said.
“Eligible farmers will be able to use the grants for removing debris, salvaging crops and stock, and repairing damage to equipment, which will really help them get back on track in the wake of these devastating storms and floods.
“We are closely monitoring the flood situation and will make assistance available to other communities as required to allow local governments to get on with the job of rebuilding as quickly as possible,” Mr Grant added.
The local government areas receiving NDRRA assistance are: Ballina, Bathurst, Bega, Berrigan, Bland, Blayney, Bogan, Byron Bay, Cabonne, Cobar, Coffs Harbour, Coolamon, Coonamble, Cootamundra-Gundagai, Cowra, Dubbo, Edward River, Eurobodalla, Federation, Forbes, Gilgandra, Hay, Hilltops, Junee, Kempsey, Lachlan, Leeton, Mid-Western, Murray River, Murrumbidgee, Nambucca, Narrabri, Narrandera, Narromine, Orange, Parkes, Shoalhaven, Snowy Valleys, Temora, Tweed, Walgett, Warren, Warrumbungle, Weddin and Yass Valley.
More information
For information on personal hardship and distress assistance, contact the Disaster Welfare Assistance Line on 1800 018 444.
To apply for a concessional loan, grant or freight subsidy, visit the NSW Rural Assistance Authority website or call 1800 678 593.
Primary producers in the eligible local government councils can also apply for a recovery grant via visiting the NSW Rural Assistance Authority website or calling 1800 678 593.
To find out more about NSW and national disaster assistance visit the Emergency NSW website or the Commonwealth's Disaster Assist website.
