Relief and recovery after emergencies and disasters

Emergency relief and recovery services

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If you’ve been impacted by a major emergency, support may be available.

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Up-to-date information contacts
Personal Hardship Assistance Program
Emergency Recovery Support Program
Emergency accommodation
Other support

If you’ve been impacted by a disaster in Victoria – like a bushfire, flood or storm – practical and financial support may be available.

Up-to-date information contacts

To get the latest information about a major emergency that has impacted you:

Personal Hardship Assistance Program

When there's been a major emergency in Victoria, the department may offer financial support through the Personal Hardship Assistance Program.

The Personal Hardship Assistance Program provides different types of financial assistance, including:

  • Emergency relief payments to help with urgent, basic relief needs
  • Re-establishment assistance to help you return home if it’s had serious damage.

If you need help after:

  • a major emergency or disaster
  • another type of emergency situation, visit the Families and Children or Housing pages for other supports
  • a single house fire, contact your local council.

Emergency relief payments

After a major emergency, we may provide a one-off Emergency Relief Payment to support people with urgent relief needs.

This payment is to help you meet urgent, basic relief needs such as:

  • food
  • shelter
  • clothing
  • essential medications.

What the payment doesn’t cover

Emergency relief payments are not available for:

  • damage caused by construction or building works
  • business losses
  • motor vehicle repairs or towing
  • loss of income
  • insurance excess
  • loss from power outages.

How you’ll receive your payment

You can receive your payment by direct deposit to your bank account.

Find out if payments are available

To find out if Emergency relief payments are available after a major emergency:

Re-establishment assistance

After a major emergency, Re-establishment assistance may be available for people whose primary home has been:

  • damaged
  • destroyed
  • inaccessible for more than seven days (for example, due to flooding).

This support can help cover the cost of:

  • clean-up
  • temporary accommodation
  • repairs or rebuilding
  • replacing essential household items.

Who can get this support

Re-establishment assistance is only available for your main residence and is means-tested.

You must:

  • not have building (home) insurance or contents insurance AND
  • be experiencing financial hardship.

Translated resources and more information

To learn more about the Personal Hardship Assistance Program and how to get support, you can access information in different formats and languages.

General information

Translated resources

Emergency Recovery Support Program

When there's been a major emergency in Victoria, we may get funding to run an Emergency Recovery Support Program. 

The Emergency Recovery Support Program can advise on what services are available to you. They can connect you with programs that can help.

Emergency recovery support can help with things like:

  • finding local services near you
  • insurance and legal questions
  • money problems
  • your health and wellbeing.

If you need extra support, you may get help from a dedicated recovery support worker. They will work with you to find and get the services you need.

When this program is available

This program is only available after major declared emergencies. When activated, more detailed information will be available:

Real stories of support and recovery

Every recovery journey is different. For some people, having someone to talk to and advocate for them made all the difference.

Alice’s story

After severe storms damaged her property, Alice worked with Michelle, a recovery support worker who helped her link up with the services she needed.

Read the Transcript: Recovering after a storm | Alice's story (Word).

Ernie’s story

Ernie connected with Melinda after a bushfire. Having someone to talk to helped him work through what he was feeling and take steps toward recovery.

Read the Transcript: Recovering after a storm | Ernie’s story (Word).

Wendy’s story

When Wendy was overwhelmed dealing with insurance and clean-up after a storm, Sam stepped in to advocate on her behalf and helped get things moving.

Read the Transcript: Recovering after a storm | Wendy’s story (Word).

Emergency accommodation

You might not be able to return home straight after a major emergency. If your home is damaged, destroyed, or inaccessible due to a disaster, you might need help with emergency accommodation.

This support is designed to help people who can’t stay in their home after a major emergency and don’t have other safe options.

First steps

If it’s safe to do so, we encourage you to first:

  • contact family or friends who may be able to support you with a place to stay
  • speak to your insurance provider as your policy may cover emergency accommodation
  • contact your local council for help with accommodation.

If those aren’t options, support may be available through emergency services.

When this program is available

Emergency accommodation assistance is only available during and after major declared emergencies, when activated. More information will be available:

Other support

Depending on the emergency, other support may be available from the Victorian or Australian Governments.

To find out more, visit: