$20,000 for Hawkesbury Flood Victims

By Tony Bosworth | Editor Hawkesbury Post

Uninsured Hawkesbury flood victims can get up to $20,000 in State aid to start to rebuild homes.

Premier Dominic Perrottet – visiting floodhit Lismore – confirmed those affected by floods and who are uninsured in eight regional government areas, including the Hawkesbury, will be eligible for grants of up to $20,000 each to start to rebuild their homes.

Deputy Premier Paul Toole said the NSW government had wanted to announced the funding earlier but they had been waiting on Federal government money too to bump up the $20,000, but so far that had not occurred.

“We’ve been working on this package now for a number of weeks, we can’t wait any longer,” said the Deputy Premier.

The scheme is called Back Home. “We want to make sure that people get back into a home,” Mr Toole said.

Premier Perrottet said NSW welcomed, “as much support as we can get from the federal government.

But ultimately we’re not going to wait, we’re going to get on with the job and we’re going to rebuild our communities.”

Details on how the funding can be applied for and what the timeline is have not been announced yet

But Flood Recovery Centres in the Hawkesbury will likely be the first point of contact, and Service NSW are taking on extra staff to handle grants too.

The $20,000 will be aimed at helping those who were uninsured, where the home had been assessed as damaged, destroyed or uninhabitable.

The funds would go towards repairs, replacing damaged carpets and flooring, replacing electrics, and for buying new fridges and washing machines, for example.

Owner-occupiers can access $20,000 under the new grants to rebuild their homes and purchase those necessary furniture, appliances and repairs, while landlords can receive up to $15,000 for repairs, and their tenants $5000 for contents.