As we all know, large parts of south-east Queensland and Northern New South Wales have been devastated by floods in the past months. Emergency crews have been stretched beyond normal limits and thousands of residents and businesses have a long road ahead.
There are a number of relief and recovery programs available to residents in both Queensland and New South Wales from state and federal Governments. Our team has put together a guide to what flood support assistance is available to help you understand if your business is eligible for financial assistance and support by the storms and floods in February and March 2022.
Financial Support
Disaster recovery grant – Businesses are eligible for up to $50,000 to help pay for the cost of clean-up and resume options. Covered costs could induce, but are not limited to:
- Payment for tradespeople to conduct safety inspections.
- Equipment and materials required for cleaning up.
- Equipment and materials essential for immediately resuming operations.
- Payment for a cleaner if the service would not have been needed, or exceeds ordinary cleaning costs, in the absence of the disaster.
- The removal and disposal of debris, damaged materials or damaged stock.
- Repairing premises and internal fittings.
- Leasing temporary premises, replacing or repair of motor vehicles, or replacing lost or damaged stock, if it’s essential for resuming operation.
Disaster recovery allowance – a short-term income support payment to assist if you’ve lost income as a direct result of the floods, provided by the Australia Government.
Stamp duty relief – for replacing insured commercial motor vehicles written off due to floods and storms.
Disaster relief loans – Concessional interest rate loans up to $130,000 for small businesses and up to $25,000 for not-for-profit organizations.
Eligibility
You must be a small business owner or a not-for profit organisation in a defined disaster area and:
- have suffered direct damage – ‘direct damage’ means a direct and material impact of flooding on business assets or equipment.
- be primarily responsible for meeting the costs you are claiming
- intend to re-establish your small business or not-for-profit organisation within the same area
- if you are a small business, have held an ABN (which you currently hold) and engaged in carrying on the small business at the time of the floods in the defined disaster area
- if you are a not-for-profit organisation, be registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) or an equivalent state regulatory body and have held that registration at the time of the eligible disaster.
Our team will stay on top of the details of these disaster relief support packages, and we will be in touch if more information arises.
You can read the full flood relief and support advice here.
