We’ve declared a period of emergency in additional Local Government Areas (LGAs) in New South Wales and extended the duration of the emergency in other NSW LGAs because of the floods.
See a list of where and when we’ve declared a period of emergency.
Period of emergency declared
A period of emergency applies from 18 to 29 November in these 5 NSW Local Government Areas (LGAs):
- Eurobodalla Shire Council, Inverell Shire Council, Orange City Council, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council and Wentworth Shire Council.
Period of emergency extended
We’ve also extended the period of emergency in place for the Forbes Shire Council and Lachlan Shire Council until 29 November.
Period of emergency ending
The period of emergency ends for all other regions in NSW at 11.59pm tomorrow (Tuesday 22 November).
Support is available to help services and families recover after an emergency. See details below.
Sector-specific support
The following support is available for services and families in affected regions during the period of emergency:
- services can continue to get Child Care Subsidy (CCS) if they close as a direct result of the emergency
- services can waive gap fees if a child doesn’t attend, or their service is closed, during the emergency
- children will get unlimited allowable absences for the duration of the period of emergency.
The following support is available to help services and families recover after an emergency:
- Families may be able to access additional absences, if they’ve exhausted their allowable absences, after the emergency.
- The Community Child Care Fund (CCCF) special circumstances grant helps services stay open when something unexpected happens, such as an emergency. Affected services should apply after an event has occurred and they have accessed other disaster support.
- Families experiencing temporary financial hardship due to an emergency that happened in the last 6 months may be eligible for Additional Child Care Subsidy. Families should apply through their Centrelink online account.
Full details of support are available on our Help in an Emergency page.
Other government support
Individual and services in affected areas may also be eligible for other government support:
- The Australian Government provides payments and help for people affected by natural disasters. Individuals can find out if they’re eligible for support on the Services Australia website.
- Your state government may provide support for individuals and businesses impacted by a natural disaster. Go to the NSW Government website.