Financial and practical support

We have developed a simple factsheet which lists all available support. 

You can read more about available supports at vic.gov.au/January-2026-victorian-bushfires 

Fill out our online form vic.gov.au/recovery to get updates about available support.

• Emergency Recovery Support Program
• Emergency relief payments
• Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment
• Help to clean up your property 
• Business support 
• Relief drinking water 
• Essential water replacement
• Fencing
• Prolonged Power Outage Payment 
• Waste disposal fees waived

Emergency Recovery Support Program

Emergency recovery support is available for people directly impacted by the January 2026 fires.

If this emergency has impacted you, it can be hard to know what to do next.

A range of support is available, based on you or your family’s needs.

Recovery support officers can guide you on your journey.

Emergency recovery support can be as simple as advice on what services are available or connecting you with programs that can help you.

Emergency recovery support can help with things like:

• finding local services near you
• insurance and legal questions
• money problems
• your health and wellbeing
• registering for government services.

If you need extra support, you may get help from a dedicated recovery support worker. They will work with you to find and access services you need.

If you were impacted by another emergency unrelated to the January 2026 fires, contact your local council to find supports in your area.

You can also find out more about support, advice and counselling available throughout your recovery.

Emergency Recovery Support can be accessed via:

The Emergency Recovery Hotline on 1800 560 760 (press 9 for an interpreter or call TIS on 131450).

Emergency payments

These emergency payments are provided by the Victorian Government, jointly funded by the Australian Government.

Emergency relief payments

Emergency relief payments are designed to provide immediate financial help for eligible Victorians experiencing extreme financial hardship due to the Victorian bushfires.

Eligible people can receive emergency relief payments.

You can apply for an emergency relief payment if: 

• your principal place of residence is damaged or destroyed by the January 2026 bushfires, and you can’t live in it, or 
• your principal place of residence was in an evacuation warning area, and you evacuated your property

and

• you have unmet immediate relief needs.

Re-establishment payment

Emergency re-establishment assistance is also available for eligible people impacted by the January 2026 fires.

Emergency re-establishment assistance is designed to assist people and families to re-establish a principal place of residence. A principal place of residence is the primary home that you live in.

You can get this payment if:

• you do not have much money to repair your home after it was damaged by the bushfires AND
• don't have building or contents insurance AND
• can't live in your home because it is damaged or destroyed OR can’t get back to your home for more than 7 days because of the bushfires, AND
• haven’t already had your costs covered by compensation, donations, or other charity help.

Apply for a payment

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing can help you apply for emergency relief and re-establishment support.

Emergency relief payment

• Call the VicEmergency Hotline 1800 226 226 (Press 0, then 1 to talk to someone)  
• Visit an Emergency Relief Centre. 

Have personal identification (ID) with you if you can. This could be a: 

• driver licence 
• Medicare card 
• letter or bill with your name and home address. 

Re-establishment assistance

Call the Emergency Recovery Hotline on 1800 560 760 and press 4 to apply for a re-establishment assistance payment.

For translating and interpreting support press 9 or call TIS on 131 450.

Or

Visit an Emergency Relief Centre or a Recovery Hub.

If you can, have some ID ready, like:

• driver licence 
• Medicare card 
• letter or utility bill showing your address. 

For re-establishment assistance, you will also need to show proof of:

• income, for example, a payslip or Centrelink payment summary
• insurance status, for example, a document from your insurance company
• impact on your home, for example, photos of damages or quotes for repairs.

If you need help, please call the VicEmergency hotline on 1800 226 226. Press 9 for an interpreter. 

The VicEmergency Hotline is experiencing a very high number of calls about the current fires and relief payments. There may be a delay in answering your call. If you can’t speak to a support officer immediately you will receive a call back, which may be from an unknown number. We are working hard to call everyone back as soon as possible.

Australian Government disaster payments

There are lump sum payments and short term allowances to help you from the Australian Government. 

The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP) is a one-off, non-means tested lump sum payment. It’s available if you’ve had major damage to your home or major assets that you own at your home. It can also help if you were seriously injured or your immediate family member has died or is missing. The payment is $1,000 for eligible adults and $400 for eligible children.

The Disaster Recovery Allowance is an allowance for up to 13 weeks to help if you have lost income as a direct result of the January 2026 Victorian Bushfires.

Equivalent financial assistance is also available to eligible New Zealand citizens.

Find information about eligibility including declared areas and how to claim on Services Australia website.

Help to clean up your property 

The statewide clean up program will let eligible fire-affected homeowners start the recovery process by funding key clean-up activities, like demolition and removal of hazardous materials. This will be available in the impacted LGAs for the principal place of residence for people who are uninsured and under-insured. 

More information at Clean-up support for the January 2026 bushfires.

Business support 

If your business has been impacted, Business Victoria offers resources and information, including: 

• an up-to-date fact sheet with key contacts and details 
• steps on insurance claims and disputes 
• financial support 
• wellbeing support. 

For more information go to Recovering from a bushfire.   

Relief drinking water 

Emergency relief drinking water is available to help households affected by the January 2026 Victorian bushfires.

Relief drinking water is a one‑off delivery of up to 20,000 litres of clean domestic water.

It’s available if:

• your household relies on tank water,
• your tank has been contaminated by fire, ash, debris or fire‑fighting activities,
• and your property is within an impacted area.

Households must complete and submit the DEECA form to access this support. Find information about eligibility, maps of impacted areas, and how to apply at Emergency relief drinking water 2026.

Essential water replacement

If we take essential water from your land to fight fires, you can request for it to be replaced.

The Essential Water Replacement Policy makes sure that water needed for homes, livestock, or crops is replaced.

To replace your water, please download and complete the Essential Water Replacement Form.

• Essential water replacement form (PDF, 85.4 KB)
• Essential water replacement form (accessible) (DOCX, 148.7 KB)
• Email the completed form to emergency.recovery@deeca.vic.gov.au.

You must request water replacement within 3 months of it being taken from your property. If essential water supplies run out, we will replace the water within 48 hours of your request, as long as it's safe. 

For more information, visit Public land recovery on the FFMVic website.

Fencing

Eligible property owners may get support to repair fencing if: 

• firefighting or disaster response teams brought about the damage, or 
• the fence is on the boundary of National Parks, State Parks or State Forests. 

To find out if your damage is eligible for support, you can contact DEECA on 136 186. In most cases, fences not on the boundary of parks or those covered by insurance won’t qualify for support.

Prolonged Power Outage Payment 

The Victorian and Australian Governments are providing financial relief to households through the Prolonged Power Outage Payment (PPOP) due to the January 2026 bushfire and associated heatwave.

Payments

Payments of $2,380 per eligible residential customer are available for each 7-day period without power up to a maximum of 3 payments.

Eligibility criteria

To receive the payment you must: 

• have a residential electricity account that is registered against a national meter identification number (NMI) for the relevant electricity distribution network (electricity account holder). 
• be an electricity account holder for a property that: 
  • lost power due to the severe weather events occurring in Victoria between 7 January and 10 January 2026; and
  • was without power for 7 days. 
• have not applied for, or received a PPOP, for the same NMI in relation to the same period.

If you are eligible, you must make your application by no later than 11.59 pm (AEDT), 31 March 2026.

Before you apply

You will need these details before you apply: 

• Full name of electricity account holder 
• National Metering Identifier (NMI) 
• Bank account to receive payment.

AusNet customers

You can apply: 

• online via the web application at www.ausnetservices.com.au/outages/emergency-response 
• by phone on 1300 561 171 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm). 
• in person with AusNet’s community engagement team who are available at some local council relief centres. See www.ausnetservices.com.au/outages/emergency-response for further information on where AusNet are located.

For detailed information, read the Guidelines for Residential Customers at www.ausnetservices.com.au/outages/emergency-response.

For claims related to food spoilage, please see Claims.

Powercor customers

Eligible customers will be contacted by Powercor via SMS, email or phone and provided with a link to a dedicated page on the Powercor website. Once a customer application is completed, customers will be sent a confirmation email with a reference number. Payments to approved applicants will be directly deposited into customer bank accounts.

If you believe you are eligible for a PPOP payment but have not received an SMS and link, please contact Powercor on 13 22 06.

Waste disposal fees waived

People from the 18 LGAs impacted by the fire won’t need to pay any fees at waste disposal facilities to dispose of their fire-related rubbish if they show proof of residence, like a driver’s license.

The fee waivers will run for 120 days to 13 May 2026 to ensure impacted communities have enough time to clean up their property and start getting back on their feet.

The list of the 18 LGAs can be accessed on the State of Disaster webpage.