The Australian Government has decided to provide additional relief assistance to enhance the current Natural Disaster Relief Arrangements to help people, businesses and communities recover from devastating natural disasters.
Enhanced assistance will be provided through: (1) three special community recovery programs: (i) a community recovery fund; (ii) recovery grants for small business; and (iii) recovery grants for primary producers. (2) financial counselling for affected individuals; (3) funding to upgrade essential infrastructure to more resilient standards; and (4) small grants for disaster-affected voluntary non-profit bodies and needy persons.
Assistance under the small business recovery grants program is designed to ensure that a disaster affected community does not lose essential business. Grants of up to $10,000 to eligible small business can be provided for clean up and immediate restoration costs.
Similar assistance will be made available to eligible primary producers.
Funding under the community recovery programs can be provided for activities such as small grants to community service organisations providing recovery services; community information initiatives; employment of a community development officer to support and facilitate the disaster affected community to manage its own recovery; funding of commemorative events, advocacy and monitoring services, business advice and support; and economic and tourism development initiatives.
The special community recovery programs will be triggered by agreement between the Australian Government and the states and territories, and will be funded on a dollar for dollar cost sharing basis. The Australian Government will give sympathetic consideration to any request from the Premiers to invoke these enhanced assistance arrangements.
The enhanced arrangements are in addition to the Australian Government's Natural Disaster Relief Arrangements which provide a comprehensive framework of assistance to states and territories affected by natural disasters.
The arrangements provide for reimbursement of between 50 and 75 per cent of state costs above agreed thresholds for personal hardship and distress payments; concessional interest loans to farmers and small business; and restoration of essential public infrastructure. Since 2001, the Australian Government has provided some $320 million to states and territories under these arrangements.
The bushfires ravaging New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania are threatening communities, livelihoods, property and livestock. I commend the efforts of all those who have provided their fire-fighting and relief services. They have the full support of Australian Government and the Australian people.