Flood Hardship Payments activated for residents in Clermont, McKinlay and parts of Mackay

Personal Hardship Assistance (PHAS) has been extended to help more residents impacted by flooding resulting from the North Queensland Monsoon Trough and ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji.

Widespread damage from the severe weather events means residents in Clermont, the McKinlay Shire, and parts of the Mackay Regional Council area can now access support to aid their recovery.

Eligible localities in the Mackay local government area (LGA) are Broken River, Crediton, Dalrymple Heights and Eungella.

Emergency Hardship Assistance grants of $180 per person, or up to $900 for families of five or more, are available through the joint Commonwealth-state Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA)to assist with essential expenses such as emergency food, clothing, and medicine. 

Additionally, three income-tested grants are available for uninsured residents in Clermont, McKinlay, Flinders, Richmond and Winton.

Essential Household Contents Grants of up to $1,765 for individuals and up to $5,300 for couples or families are available to replace destroyed essential household contents such as bed linen and whitegoods.

Structural Assistance Grants of up to $80,000 are available towards the repair or replacement of a disaster damaged dwelling to return it to a safe and habitable condition.

Up to $5,000 per household is available through the Essential Services Safety and Reconnection Scheme to help individuals and families reconnect damaged services like electricity, gas, water or sewerage.

Hardship assistance remains open to disaster impacted residents of the Flinders, Richmond and Winton Shires.

Applications can be submitted via www.disaster.qld.gov.au or by calling the Queensland Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349.

A full list of activated LGAs and support measures is available on the Activations page on the Queensland Reconstruction Authority website.