Help for farmers
If your property has been impacted by fire and you have urgent animal welfare needs, please contact the VicEmergency Hotline on 1800 226 226.
Contact Agriculture Victoria if you need advice for disposing of livestock on 0407 145 007 and livestock.disposal@agriculture.vic.gov.au.
Livestock
Livestock welfare
Landholders concerned about livestock welfare can contact Agriculture Victoria on 1800 226 226. Agriculture Victoria will work with the fire Incident Controller to assess the request and determine the earliest and safest way to get access.
Farmers can access emergency fodder for livestock affected by the fires. The Victorian Farmers Federation will lead the supply, transport, and distribution of fodder.
Further details about the program will be made available on the Victorian Farmers Federation website.
Emergency Fodder Support Program
Emergency fodder is being made available for farmers in fire-affected areas. To request fodder, contact the Victorian Farmers Federation on 1300 882 833 or lodge a request on the Victorian Farmers Federation website.
Agriculture Victoria has advice for farmers who have experienced loss of stock or farming assets.
Livestock disposal
On-farm and off-farm options exist for the disposal of animal carcasses, including, knackeries and rendering facilities, licensed landfills and on-farm burial.
Agriculture Victoria is available to support landholders disposing of livestock with guidance, information and technical advice.
Agriculture Victoria has established a Livestock Disposal Advisory service to assist landholders with advice to dispose of livestock
This service can be contacted on 0407 145 007 and livestock.disposal@agriculture.vic.gov.au
More information can be found on Agriculture Victoria's website.
Water
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.
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.
Your property
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.
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.
Health and wellbeing
Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS)
The Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS) is accessible for bushfire affected primary producers, and offers free, confidential wellbeing support alongside financial and business counselling support.
RFCS wellbeing counsellors can visit you at your property or talk over the phone to assist with mental health and wellbeing issues.
To access the support of a wellbeing counsellor, call the Rural Financial Counselling Service on 1300 771 741.
Look Over the Farm Gate (LOTFG)
The Look Over the Farm Gate (LOTFG) program being delivered by the National Centre for Farmer Health is available to farming communities experiencing stress and will now open on 16 January 2026.
The LOTFG has been brought forward to meet the immediate needs of bushfire affected communities and provides grants of up to $5,000 for events and activities to support mental health and wellbeing. Further information will be available on the National Centre for Farmer Health website on Friday when applications open.
Rural Aid Australia
Rural Aid Australia offers financial assistance and free counselling for affected farmers. More information and links for farmers are available at; https://faa.ruralaid.org.au/
Financial support
Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS)
The Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS) is accessible for bushfire affected primary producers, and offers free, confidential wellbeing support alongside financial and business counselling support.
RFCS wellbeing counsellors can visit bushfire-affected producers at their property or talk over the phone to assist with mental health and wellbeing issues for individuals and their families.
To access the support of a wellbeing counsellor, call the Rural Financial Counselling Service on 1300 771 741.
Primary Producer Grants
Primary Producer Grants of $75,000 can help cover the costs of clean-up and getting back to business – including safety inspections, equipment and wages for clean-up, and removing debris, damaged goods and deceased livestock.
Grant applications are now open and guidelines available.
Information on how to apply is available on the Rural Finance website.
Concessional Loans for Primary Producers
Concessional loans of up to $250,000 are available for primary producers who have seen significant damage to assets due to fires.
The loans are intended to be used for restoring and replacing damaged assets, or for working capital expenses that cannot be met due to a loss of income.
This assistance will help cover essential costs such as repairing or replacing fire damaged equipment, rebuilding infrastructure, replacing livestock and meeting working capital expenses like wages, rent, and fodder.
To be eligible, primary producers must:
- be in a declared Local Government Area (LGA) and have an ABN
- derive at least 50 per cent of gross income from primary production in an average year OR derive over $75,000 gross income from primary production.
The amount available is based on an assessment of the applicants’ financial position, including any amount recoverable under an insurance policy and cannot be more than the amount reasonably required.
Applicants can only apply for a maximum loan amount of $250,000.
The program is administered by Rural Finance on behalf of the Victorian Government.
Applications for loans are now open – information on how to apply is available on the Rural Finance website.
