The Minns Labor Government has expanded eligibility for the $200 Far West power outage support payment.
The $200 payment will now be made available to all eligible adults who live in Broken Hill, Central Darling Shire and the Unincorporated LGAs.
This expands on the previously announced details of a payment for each residential electricity account holder. The expanded payment will see every adult in a single household or shelter receive support.
Service NSW is urgently working to establish the system to process applications.
Once available, residents over the age of 18 will be able to apply via their MyService Account on the Service NSW website or mobile app, in person at the Recovery Assistance Point in Broken Hill, the Broken Hill Service NSW centre, or other locations to be advised.
Residents will need to provide proof of identity and residential address such as a recent utilities account, council rates notice, tenancy agreement or registration notice.
The NSW Government is working with financial institutions, which are standing by to support fast turnaround of payments into residents' bank accounts. In most cases, payments should be available in bank accounts within three days of an approved application.
The Minns Labor Government will also be providing a $400 payment for small-to-medium sized businesses.
Businesses with a principal place of operation in the Broken Hill, Central Darling Shire and the Unincorporated LGAs with an active ABN at the time of the outage and fewer than 200 employees as of October 17 will be eligible to apply.
Business applications will be able to be made via the Service NSW Business App, website or in-person assisted by Business Concierges.
More information about the grants is available at www.service.nsw.gov.au
In addition to the support payments:
- 1300 vouchers for food and fuel, worth almost $100,000, have been provided so far to people experiencing financial hardship.
- 1,000 food hampers are being delivered this week to people experiencing hardship. Another 1,000 have been ordered for next week.
- More than 700 community members have visited the Recovery Assistance Point in Broken Hill and the mobile Recovery Assistance Points visiting smaller remote communities. They provide access to support and referral to services including Service NSW, Insurance Council, Vinnies, Legal Aid, Red Cross and the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program.
Jointly-funded assistance for local governments from the Australian and NSW Governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements is also available.
The Commonwealth Government has also opened applications for the Disaster Recovery Allowance, which provide up to 13 weeks of income support for eligible workers and sole traders who have experienced loss of income as a result of the storms and outage. More information on the Commonwealth support is available at www.serviceaustralia.gov.au
Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns said:
"We are getting help to more people in Far West NSW impacted by the outage.
"People have been hit hard, and this money goes some way to easing the impact.
"This has been a major disruption to people and businesses, and this is an important boost to NSW Government support."
Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib said:
"The community across the Far West have experienced significant impacts from this power outage and this is one way we can help.
"Service NSW is working as quickly as possible to deliver these grants and we have been able to expand the eligibility so even more people can claim and benefit.
"I encourage all impacted residents and business owners to open their Service NSW app or go to the website and submit an application when the program opens."
Minister for Regional NSW and Western NSW Tara Moriarty said:
"We know that the community of Far West NSW has been struggling with the recent power outages and there has been a lot of uncertainty and hardship.
"The Government understands people are anxious to receive their grant and we are working as quickly as possible to ensure this is a streamlined and simple process.
"We will support the community every step of the way as part of the recovery from this extremely difficult event."
Member for Barwon Roy Butler said:
"The communities impacted by the power outage continue to face difficult decisions daily.
"I thank the NSW Government for coming to the Far West, speaking to our communities, and responding by expanding this grant.
"I will continue fighting for small businesses and individuals as the recovery continues."
