January 2026 fires

Personal Hardship Assistance Program - January 2026 fires

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Find out if you qualify and how to apply for an emergency relief payment or emergency re-establishment payment. These payments are for fixing the home you live in that has been damaged by the fires, or when you have evacuated because of a fire.

Emergency relief payments

You can apply for an emergency relief payment if:

  • your principal place of residence was damaged or destroyed by the fires and you can’t live in it, or
  • your principal place of residence was in an evacuation warning area, and you evacuated your property

and

  • you have unmet immediate relief needs.

Emergency re-establishment payments

You can apply for a emergency re-establishment payment to fix your principal place of residence. A principal place of residence is the primary home that you live in.

You can get this payment if you:

  • don’t have much money to repair your home after it was damaged by the bushfires, AND
  • don’t have building or contents insurance, AND
  • can’t live in your home because it was damaged or destroyed, or can’t get back to your home for more than 7 days because of the bushfires, AND
  • haven’t already had your costs covered by compensation, donations, or other charity help.

How to apply

A support officer from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing can help you apply for emergency relief and re-establishment payments.

By phone

For emergency relief payments

Call the VicEmergency Hotline on 1800 226 226. Press 0, then 1 to talk to someone.

Press 9 for an interpreter if you need one.

For re-establishment payments

Call the Emergency Recovery Hotline on 1800 560 760. Press 4 to apply for a re-establishment assistance payment.

Press 9 for an interpreter if you need one or call TIS on 131 450.

In person

Go to an Emergency Relief Centre. Find an Emergency Relief Centre.

What you need to apply

Have personal identification (ID) with you if you can. This could be a:

  • driver licence
  • Medicare card
  • letter or bill with your name and address.

For re-establishment payments, you will also need to show proof of: 

  • your income. For example, a payslip or Centrelink payment summary
  • your insurance status. For example, a document from your insurance company
  • the impact on your home, for example, photos of damage or quotes for repairs.