Financial assistance to eligible individuals and families whose homes have been damaged by a natural disaster.

If your home or essential household contents were damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster, you may be eligible for the Disaster Relief Grant for individuals.

The financial assistance is provided to help people to recover from the effects of a disaster and re-establish a basic standard of living. It is not provided to replace insurance or compensate for losses.

The grants assist low-income residents who have no other means of restoring their homes to a safe and habitable condition following a disaster event.

Assistance falls into two categories: 

1. Essential Household Contents Grants to assist with the cost of re-establishing essential household items considered necessary to maintain a basic standard of living.
2. Structural Grants as a contribution toward essential structural repairs to homes for households unable to meet the cost of repairs. The Structural Repair Grants are commonly delivered in the form of either grants to contribute toward essential structural repairs to homes or full rebuilds of property which has been rendered uninhabitable.

If the natural disaster event has caused damage to a temporary dwelling, assistance provided will depend on the type of temporary dwelling. There are several types of temporary dwelling support available, including support for people living in caravans, houseboats and relocatable homes and rough sleepers.

To apply

1. Phone 13 77 88 to discuss if you may be eligible for the Disaster Relief Grant administered by Resilience NSW with a Service NSW Representative. 
2. If you are eligible then we will send you an application form and fact sheet to allow further assessment. This will be sent to your nominated email or mailing address.
3. Gather the extra information and documents you will need to provide.
4. Submit your application with the extra information and documents you have gathered. Your application can be made up to four months after the disaster.
5. They will let you know when we receive your application, give you a case number and advise if you need to supply any other documents.
6. They will check your application and talk to the agencies you have named on your behalf. By signing and submitting your application you are giving us permission to do so.
7. They will arrange to visit your home and inspect the damage before making a final assessment of your application.
8. They will write to you to tell you the outcome of your application.

You may be eligible for financial support if the following apply: 

• your primary place of residence was damaged by a natural disaster 
• you do not have insurance for the damage or your insurance doesn’t cover the damage caused during this natural disaster 
• you are a low-income earner after tax and mortgage, or rent have been deducted with limited financial resources
• it has been less than four months since the disaster.

If there are multiple individuals with differentially owned assets living within the one address, for example, in a share-house arrangement, each individual must make their own application, covering only those items which belong to them, and which are in scope.

You may not be eligible if any of the following apply:

• lack of maintenance has caused or impacted the damage, such as poor roof maintenance
• the damage is cosmetic and not essential to living in a safe and habitable home.

• Phone: 13 77 88