The Hon Michael Keenan MP
More than $84 million in disaster relief has be distributed to flood victims in Far North Queensland since the Coalition Government activated emergency payments on February 5.
About 72,000 individuals living in the flood zone have received the $1000 Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP), or the separate Disaster Recovery Allowance.
Minister for Human Services and Digital Transformation Michael Keenan said his department had responded extremely quickly to the emergency to ensure those who were doing it tough could get immediate access the support they need.
“We’ve had about 1500 staff working on our dedicated phone lines which have been operating 7 days a week to accept claims, most of which were approved on the spot,” Minister Keenan said.
“We’ve also been able to get the money into people’s bank accounts within 24 to 48 hours. For those who require additional support such as access to social workers, all of our service centres are open for business and a mobile service centre is also touring remote areas.”
The disaster payments are available to eligible people living in the local government areas of Burdekin, Burke, Charters Towers, Cloncurry, Cook, Douglas, Flinders, McKinlay, Palm Island, Richmond, Townsville, Winton and Wujal Wujal.
To claim a disaster payment, call 180 22 66 or visit humanservices.gov.au/disaster for more information. People have until August 3, 2019, to make a claim.
Mobile Service Centre locations can be found at humanservices.gov.au/mobileoffice
