Personal issues:  Essential flood recovery guide

Updated 20 January 2011.

Centrelink
There are two types of payments offered by the Commonwealth Government through Centrelink. These are not means tested:

• Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP)
  This is a one-off payment of $1,000 per eligible adult and $400 per eligible child who was adversely affected by the disaster.  Eligibility criteria include factors such as being without electricity, water, gas, sewerage or other essential service for more than 48 hours or if you were unable to leave or return to your principal place of residence for more than 24 hours. You have until 4 July 2011 to lodge your claim and you can find more information at http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/disaster_relief.htm
• Disaster Income Recovery Subsidy
  The Disaster Income Recovery Subsidy provides assistance to employees, small business operators and farmers who lost income as a result of the flooding.  This subsidy will provide eligible persons fortnightly payments up to the maximum rate of Newstart allowance depending on the person's circumstances.  The payments will continue for an initial period of up to 13 weeks and you can find more information at http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/emergency/severe_weather_dec10_dirs.htm

To apply or enquire about your eligibility for these payments use the links above or call Centrelink on 1802266. 

Identification numbers
If you no longer have a record of your tax file number, contact the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on 1800 806 218 or go to www.ato.gov.au.

Certificates of births, deaths and marriages
The Queensland Government has waived replacement fees for the above certificates for those in disaster zones. To contact the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, call 1300 366 430 or email BDM-mail@justice.qld.gov.au.

Drivers' licences and car registration details
Flood damaged/lost licences will be replaced for free by the government and people are required to bring in the damaged licence where possible. If your licence has been lost, you should visit a lecence-issuing centre with as much identification as possible. 

Overdue fees for car registration payments will be waived for those in flood-affected areas. A three-month registration option for those struggling financially following the floods has also been introduced by the Government.

For more information on these and other assistance measures office by the Department of Transport and Main Roads, visit http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Community-and-environment/Community-engagement/Disaster-and-drought-assistance.aspx.

Lost or destroyed Australian passports
The Australian Passport Office will replace any Australian passports lost or damaged in the floods free of charge until 28 February 2011. For more information phone 131 232 or go to www.passports.gov.au.

Department of Community Services
There are three grants available from the Department of Community Services:

• Personal Hardship Assistance Grant
  Available to individuals and families who do not have the capacity to meet immediate, unexpected basic costs such as food, clothing and accommodation as a result of the disaster.  This grant is a non-means tested, once-off payment of $170 per person, up to a maximum of $850 for a family of five or more.
• Essential Household Contents Grant
  Available to people whose essential household contents have been lost or damaged in the disaster and who do not have contents insurance.  This grant is a means tested, once-off payment of up to $1,705 per adult, up to a maximum of $5,120 for a couple/family.
• Structural Assistance Grant
  For homes that have been damaged by the disaster, that are uninsured, owned by the applicant and are their sole place of residence. The grant provides a contribution towards repairs to a residence to make them habitable and secure. This grant is a means tested, once-off payment of up to $10,500 per individual, and up to $14,200 for a couple/family.

Further information on each of these grants is available from the Department of Community Services’ website.

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR)
The Special Child Care Benefit provides extra assistance covering up to the full cost of child care for families affected by a crisis or disaster and more information can be found on the Centrelink website.

Local Councils
Local councils are providing extended payment terms for rates bills and a rebate on water charges for ratepayers in flood affected homes. Contact your local council for details. The directory for local governments in Queensland can be found at:  http://www.dip.qld.gov.au/local-government-directory/index.php

Financial Institutions
Financial institutions are offering various levels of assistance for those affected, including:

• Suspending home loan repayments 
• Waiving fees and costs for withdrawing term deposits early 
• Waiving individual insurance premiums such as Life, TPD, Critical Illness and Income Protection insurance
• Waiving home loan and personal loan application fees 
• Discounted or honey-moon interest rates on new personal or home loans
• Emergency credit card limit increases

Contact your financial institution for specific information on the assistance available to you.

Telecommunications
Telecommunication providers including Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and Three are offering assistance packages for customers who have been evacuated from their homes or whose phone services have been affected by the recent storms and flooding.  Depending on the circumstances, the package may include:

• free call diversion of their fixed line
• fixed line rates on mobiles
• phone number reservation for up to 12 months
• free connection within 12 months
• $50 free credit for mobile customers without a fixed line 
• extended payment terms and in some cases offering to waive bills

Contact your provider for specific information on the assistance available to you.

Superannuation
In very limited circumstances, clients who are impacted by the floods may be able to access their super. There has been some discussion that these circumstances may be extended during the current crisis, but to date this has not occurred. We believe any changes to be unlikely, but will advise through future updates if this occurs and what the criteria for access would be.

Superannuation laws have always allowed early access for:

• severe financial hardship
• compassionate grounds

Severe Financial Hardship applies for someone who has been on Commonwealth Government support for more than 26 weeks and is unable to meet reasonable living expenses.  In such cases, an amount of between $1,000 and $10,000 can be withdrawn per annum.

Compassionate grounds apply for the following circumstances and where the person does not have the financial capacity to meet the costs:

• to pay for medical treatment or medical transport for person or dependant
• to enable the person to make a loan repayment to prevent foreclosure etc over the person's principal place of residence
• to modify the PPR to accommodate needs arising from severe disability
• to pay expenses associated with palliative care, death, funeral or burial of a dependant
• other cases determined by the regulator (none to date)

Deductibility of donations
The ATO has approved "bucket donations" for the 2011 Queensland and Northern NSW floods. The ATO will allow deductions for donations in 2010-11 tax returns up to $10 made to "bucket appeals" for the floods without needing to keep a receipt.

Those making donations through other means, such as a bank or retail outlet, should make sure they receive a receipt in order to claim a deduction

Volunteer information
The recovery efforts for the Queensland floods will be a slow and complex process, with volunteers required to help in the weeks and months to come.

If you would like to offer your assistance visit www.emergencyvolunteering.com.au or call 1800 994 100 to register as a volunteer.

Risk of fraud
It is unfortunate that in times of crisis, there are those that seek to take advantage of the community’s generosity or prey on the victims of disasters when they are most susceptible.  The Queensland Police Service and the Queensland Government’s Office of Fair Trading have issued media alerts and guidance that outline some of the frauds and scams that are being perpetuated by unscrupulous individuals during the current flood crisis.  This advice can be located at:

• http://www.police.qld.gov.au/News+and+Alerts/Media+Releases/2011/01/Fraudsters+targets+Queensland+Floods.htm
• http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au/disaster-assistance.htm

We encourage you to familiarise yourself with this guidance to ensure that you do not fall victim to these schemes, and to report suspicious activities to the appropriate authorities.

This information is general in nature and we urge you to contact your usual Grant Thornton advisor or email our office at flood.assistance@au.gt.com should you have any questions.