Grants for people affected by the Qld and NSW 2022 floods

New South Wales: Armidale, Ballina, Bayside, Bega valley, Bellingen, Blacktown, Blue mountains, Byron shire, Camden, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Central Coast, Cessnock, Parramatta, Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour, Cumberland, Dungog, Eurobodalla, Fairfield, Georges river, Glen Innes Severn, Goulburn Mulwaree, Hawkesbury, Hornsby, Inner West, Kempsey, Kiama, Ku-ring-gai, Kyogle, Lake Macquarie, Lismore, Lithgow, Liverpool, Maitland, Mid-coast, Mid-western, Muswellbrook, Nambucca, Newcastle, Northern Beaches, Penrith, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Port Stephens, Queanbeyan-Palerang, Richmond Valley, Ryde, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Singleton, Snowy Monaro, Strathfield, Sutherland, Tenterfield, The Hills, Tweed, Upper Hunter, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly, Wollongong.

Queensland: Balonne, Brisbane, Bundaberg, Cherbourg, Fraser Coast, Gladstone, Gold Coast, Goondiwindi, Gympie, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Logan, Moreton Bay, Noosa, North Burnett, Redland, Scenic Rim, Somerset, South Burnett, Southern Downs, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Western Downs.

Thank you for submitting your application, our team are working hard to process all remaining applications. There’s nothing further you need to do. All applications already submitted that meet the grant eligibility criteria will be processed.

Our team is working hard to process thousands of applications as quickly as possible. When all the required information and documentation has been provided, and this relates to a single household, applications are generally assessed within 1 to 3 days. If you do not provide the required documentation up front your application will be delayed. If you haven’t provided the required information, our team will be in touch with you either by phone or SMS.

Once approved, it usually takes a further 1-3 business days to deposit the money in your bank account, although this is dependent upon your financial institution.

Once an application is reviewed and approved for a single household, it usually takes 1-3 business days to deposit the money in your bank account (depending on the bank).

If you live in a shared occupancy arrangement with other tenants and have not yet supplied a rental agreement or other evidence, your payment will be delayed until this is supplied. Our team will contact you for this additional information.

We know many people have been affected in ways much bigger than this grant can cover, but we can only give what we raise - this is a gift from the Australian people and organisations.

The telethon raised over $27 million, all of which we are providing as cash grants. To give you an idea, we estimate that more than 50,000 households have been impacted 54,000 x $500 = $27 million.

In Brisbane 15,000 homes were flooded, and in New South Wales 40,000 people were under evacuation orders. The scale of damage is starting to become known, but we know tens of thousands of people will need support. We do not yet know the full number of people who have been impacted.

We have always said that we will distribute grants until all funds are exhausted. Over 60,000 applications have been submitted or are in progress. Not all of these applications are complete. We anticipate that once these applications are processed, all available funds will be exhausted. If there are remaining funds they will be redistributed to those in flood impacted postcodes. We will distribute all funds donated by the public to the Australia Unites Telethon. 

Grant payments are only one part of the support we are providing. Since the start of these emergencies, Red Cross teams have been on the ground supporting people and communities. Our trained specialist emergency teams have been providing psychosocial support and assistance to thousands of people at multiple evacuation centres, relief centres, recovery hubs and in outreach home visits across Qld and NSW. We’re helping people to access practical items and vital support services. We have also been helping people to reconnect with their loved ones.

It is a challenging time for many who are coming to grips with the effects of these floods. Recovery from a disaster can take a long time, and we’ll be there to support affected communities every step of the way for as long as people need us.

We know many people have been affected in ways much bigger than our grants can cover. If you’re experiencing difficulties, other financial assistance options include:

• The Federal Government’s Disaster Recovery Payment (up to three payments of $1,000 per adult and $400 for each child younger than 16).
• The Federal Government’s Disaster Recovery Allowance (up to 13 weeks’ income assistance).
• The Federal Government’s Additional Child Care Subsidy Temporary Financial Hardship grant. You can find out more about these at Services Australia.
• If you are in Qld, there is the Qld Government’s Emergency Hardship Assistance grant ($180 per person up to $900 for a family of 5 or more).
• If you are in NSW, there is the NSW Government’s Disaster Relief Grant for low-income earners. 

The National Recovery and Resilience Agency provides information on support available, including a map where you can search for support available in your area.

You can also search AskIzzy.