Severe Weather – Barkly and Central Australia

Financial help

• Disaster recovery funding arrangements

  Disaster assistance has been extended to Barkly and Central Desert communities, including residents of Imangara (Murray Downs) and affected pastoralists, following severe flooding across Central Australia.

  The Australian and Northern Territory governments are jointly providing support under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) to assist residents affected by flooding in the Barkly and Central Desert communities.

  Financial support is available for eligible individuals and families, businesses, primary producers, non-profit organisations, and local and state governments affected by the severe weather event.

  Residents whose homes have been directly impacted may be eligible for Category A, Personal Hardship and Distress Assistance (Immediate Relief Payments) and Re-establishment Measures.

  Eligibility criteria

  Residents of Imangara (Murray Downs) who were relocated to Ali Curung during the flooding event and a small number of pastoralists in the Barkly and Central Desert LGAs whose homes or living quarters were inundated may be eligible for Immediate Relief Payments.

  Residents of Imangara (Murray Downs) and affected pastoralists in the Barkly and Central Desert LGAs who meet one or more of the following are eligible:

  • homes were inundated (flooded)
  • evacuated from their home
  • relocated to alternate shelter
  • unable to access essential services due to direct flooding impacts
  • isolated in their homes due to floodwater preventing access to their home.

  Residents and affected pastoralists in the Barkly and Central Desert LGAs who do not meet the above criteria, are not eligible for Personal Hardship and Distress Payments. This includes:

  • communities isolated due to road closures where homes were not directly impacted by floodwater
  • people whose community was cut off but who did not experience household level impacts
  • families currently in Alice Springs who cannot return home unless their primary residence meets one of the impact criteria above
  • anyone who experienced delays or access issues but no direct flooding to their home.

  Key information

  Community isolation does not meet eligibility. Isolation only applies where a household was physically cut off by floodwater and there was no access to the home for essential services and critical goods.

• Immediate relief payments (Category A)

  Immediate relief payments may be available to eligible residents of Imangara (Murray Downs) and affected pastoralists in the Barkly and Central Desert Local Government Areas (LGAs) whose homes were impacted by flood waters during last months’ event to:

  • assist residents experiencing personal hardship as a result of the flooding
  • help with the immediate impacts of flooding.

  This includes immediate relief payments of $611 per adult and $309 per child, capped at $1,537 per family, with payments made via a pre-paid debit card.

  Payments are subject to eligibility criteria and are not means tested.

  Re-establishment assistance

  Further assistance may also be available to replace essential household items, with eligible households able to receive up to $8,843.

  This assistance is means tested and there are limits on claims.

  This may include support to repair or replace essential household items, such as:

  • beds and bedding
  • furniture
  • refrigerators
  • washing machines
  • other whitegoods
  • basic household items.

  Eligibility assessment and payment options will be finalised once damage assessments can be completed. To ensure you have the appropriate evidence to support damage and eligibility assessments, you must document (photos and footage) any inundation (flooding) of your home and do not dispose of damaged items without recording evidence of damage.

  Temporary accommodation assistance

  Eligible flood-affected residents of Imangara (Murray Downs) and affected pastoralists in the Barkly and Central Desert LGA required to vacate their homes due to floods may receive up $340 per adult and $172 per child, capped at $1,160 per family to reimburse the cost of short-term temporary accommodation while they are unable to return home. This assistance is means tested.

  Eligible residents will need to provide:

  • a tax receipt for out-of-pocket accommodation expenses in the name of the applicant (including ABN and GST details)
  • photo ID (such as drivers’ licence)
  • proof of residence (recent rental agreement, rates notice, utilities bill, letter from employer)
  • proof of annual income (payslips, tax statements or Centrelink statements).

  Income limits apply

  Payments are means-tested, and income thresholds apply. Please see below for income thresholds.

  Personal hardship and distress means test	Gross income threshold
  Single adult – no children	$65,189
  Single adult – with children	$84,189
  2 adults – no children (joint income)	$103,189
  2 adults – with children (joint income)	$122,190

• Immediate relief payments (Category B)

  Repairs to services and infrastructure, freight subsidies to primary producers and assistance to non-profit organisations, and support for local councils and residents to help with clean-up costs and the restoration of essential public assets.

  Assistance for primary producers and non-profit organisations, includes:

  • up to $5,000 to support freight costs associated with transporting livestock and fodder, replacing or repairing buildings, equipment, machinery or fences. This is initial disaster assistance for those in immediate need and further support may be considered
  • non-profit organisations access to one-off grant funding of up to $10,000 to repair or replace an asset.

  Eligibility criteria

  Communities eligible for assistance include the following local government authorities:

  • Alice Springs
  • Barkly
  • Central Desert
  • MacDonnell.

  For information on how to apply for the freight subsidy, go to the Northern Territory Government website.

  For information on how to apply for the non-profit grant funding, go to Grants NT.

  Contact business.programs@nt.gov.au or phone 1800 193 111.

  Information on all disaster assistance can be found on the Australian Government’s Disaster Assist website.

• Assistance to restore or repair essential public assets

  Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) assistance has been extended to local government areas in:

  • Alice Springs
  • Barkly
  • Central Desert
  • MacDonnell.

  This extension applies to repair and reconstruction of public assets only; it is not available to individuals or private enterprise.

  The measure provides financial assistance to help government and councils with the costs of restoring or repairing eligible essential public assets or infrastructure damaged as a direct result of the severe weather and floods.

  It also covers emergency and immediate reconstruction works, such as temporary repairs, which are undertaken immediately after a disaster to enable an eligible asset to be operational.

  The Department of Logistics and Infrastructure does restoration works for NT Government assets.

  The funding will assist local governments to undertake restoration and work that is beyond the scope of their operational budgets.

  Repairs by NT Government include:

  • works on major highways and roads that were significantly impacted,
  • repairs to public housing,
  • repairs to other infrastructure assets that were damaged by the weather events.