Western Downs bushfire February 2023

Personal hardship assistance is available for Queensland communities impacted by the Western Downs bushfire event in February 2023.

If you have been affected by this event, you can:

• check which areas have been impacted
• check if you're eligible for financial assistance
• find out about the different grants available
• locate your nearest Support Services location
• access brochures for key community support contacts in your area.

Eligible areas

Financial assistance is available for people who were affected by this event in these areas:

Important ID requirements

You need to be aged 18 years or older to complete an online application and have:

• Identification (ID)—Driver licence and Medicare card
  Note: If you do not have these, other forms of ID are accepted. Call the Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349.
• Bank account details.
• A valid email address.

If you are under the age of 18, please contact the Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349 to obtain advice on how to lodge an application.

Complete this form to find out what financial assistance you may be eligible for.

Start typing and select the address from the list. If your address does not appear, select Enter address manually, and complete each field for your address.

1. Address *
   Type in impacted address
2. • Enter your address manually
3. 1. Lot no
   2. Street no
   3. Street name
   1. Suburb
   2. State
   3. Postcode
   4. Lot no
4. Date you were affected *
   Type in the impacted date
5. Do you own or rent this property? *

   • Own
   • Rent
   Please select one
6. Search for grants

Available grants

The following grants have been activated for this event. To find out which of these grants you may be eligible for, complete the form above.

The Australian Government may also be offering disaster recovery payments.

To find other support services available visit the Recovery Connect website.

Transport and motoring assistance

You can apply for help with vehicle registration, licensing and other transport and motoring products.

Support Services locations

If a Community Recovery Hub near you has closed, please check the following Support Services locations.

If you need help and there is not a service near you, please call the Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349.

You can access a range of recovery information and services including:

• financial support (e.g. personal hardship assistance, financial counselling)
• practical support services (e.g. access to advocacy, translation services)
• assistance with current applications including validating identification documents
• information and referral (e.g. welfare referrals, other local services)
• disaster-specific advice (e.g. safe clean up, managing health concerns, how to cope)
• emotional support (e.g. personal support, counselling and mental health services)
• resources to assist vulnerable individuals and groups (e.g. young children and adolescents, domestic and family violence).