Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Minister for Regionalisation, Regional Communications and Regional Education
Disaster assistance is now available in 12 additional Local Government Areas (LGAs) following severe storms from March 2022, which continue to impact large areas of New South Wales.
The 12 LGAs are Cessnock City Council, Cumberland City Council, Dungog Shire Council, Goulburn Mulwaree Council, Lithgow City Council, Maitland City Council, Mid-Western Regional Council, Muswellbrook Shire Council, Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council, Singleton Shire Council, Snowy Monaro Regional Council, Upper Hunter Shire Council.
Assistance is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie, said this severe weather event will continue to impact many areas across the state, with flood evacuation orders still in place across north west and south west Sydney.
“The flood water is receding in some areas, but we know there are other regions still in the emergency stage, where the focus remains on saving lives and keeping our communities safe,” Minister McKenzie said.
New South Wales Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience and Minister for Flood Recovery, Steph Cooke, said the disaster assistance would help households, councils, small businesses, primary producers and non-profit organisations to access support and begin the recovery process.
“The immense scale of the flooding is unprecedented and we are working closely with the Commonwealth to put equally unprecedented resources into the significant clean-up and long-term recovery effort,” Ms Cooke said.
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;
- Financial assistance for primary producers small businesses and non-profit organisations; and
- Freight subsidies for primary producers.
