THE Albanese and Minns Governments are extending disaster assistance to the Tenterfield Shire, Glen Innes Severan and Armidale Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Northern NSW as Tropical Cyclone Alfred’s impacts move inland.
Support has been made available under the joint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
Assistance measures that may be provided to communities include:
- Assistance for eligible residents to help meet immediate needs like emergency accommodation and essential items generally provided from evacuation or recovery centres.
- Grants for eligible low-income residents to replace lost essential household items to maintain basic standard of living.
- Grants for eligible low-income residents to undertake essential structural repairs to restore their homes to a basic, safe and habitable condition.
- Support for affected local councils to help with the costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged essential public assets. Concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers, and non-profit organisations and grants to sporting and recreation clubs to repair or replace damaged or destroyed property.
- Freight subsidies for primary producers to help transport livestock and fodder.
- Financial support towards counter disaster activity undertaken by emergency service organisations to keep communities safe.
Federal Minister for Emergency Management Jenny McAllister said it’s a challenging time for communities in Northern NSW who are already experiencing the impacts of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
“We are extending the support available to assist more flood impacted residents in the immediate recovery phase,” Minister McAllister said.
“Thank you to all the community members who have heeded the advice of the local authorities and all the personnel out there working to keep their communities safe.
“We are urging the community to know your local risk, listen to emergency services, have a plan. If it’s flooded, forget it.”
“The Australian Government continue to work closely with the NSW Government as we prepare and respond to this event.”
NSW Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib said unlocking joint assistance will help communities begin the clean-up, rebuilding and recovery process as quickly as possible.
“Communities are still dealing with rain and flooding from the cyclone, and this assistance will help us quickly shift to recovery as soon as the weather clears,” Minister Dib said.
“We are rolling out support measures for communities we know are likely to be impacted by Tropical Cyclone Alfred and as impacts are known we will look at further measures to support the community.”
“I would like to thank NSW State Emergency Service volunteers and emergency services who have been supporting the community across the state. The NSW Reconstruction Authority has also been on the ground in Northern NSW ready to begin recovery support and have appointed NSW Police Superintendent Scott Tanner APM as Recovery Coordinator.”
“Communities have worked hard to prepare for this cyclone and we understand this has been difficult for Northern Rivers residents who experienced floods in 2022. We are committed to continuing to support this resilient community through these challenges.”
More information on disaster assistance can be found at
Caption: Lismore MP Janelle Saffin earlier today took Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Special Envoy for Disaster Recovery Senator Tony Sheldon, NSW Premier Chris Minns and NSW Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib to inspect Lismore’s flood levee and the Wilsons River before meeting with emergency services personnel and Australian Defence Force soldiers deployed to assist communities across the wider region.
