Victorian Bushfire Appeal

This program aims to support local communities affected by the devastating fires. It seeks to provide practical support as impacted Victorians begin to rebuild their lives.

The program is a partnership between the Victorian Government, Bendigo Bank and The Salvation Army. 100% of donated funds will go directly to communities in need.

There are three streams of funding available:
- Community Grants Program: Opened 16 November and closed 11 December 2020
- Community Recovery Grants Program: Open for applications
- Community Recovery Committees (CRCs): Open for applications

The program will provide the following support:
1. Family violence services
- $800,000 in Appeal funds has been comitted to support family violence prevention and intervention work in bushfire impacted communities.
- Gippsland Lakes Community Health, Gateway Health and Centre Against Violence are delivering new prevention and intervention programs as well as expanding and enhancing existing programs aimed at reducing the instances and impact of family violence.

2. People who have lost homes
- Housing assistance payments of $25,000 will be made to owner/occupiers and renters whose principal place of residence was either destroyed or severely damaged by bushfire.
- Payments will be made available through Windermere.
- Windermere will be paying funds into the bank accounts of eligible individuals.

3. Payments to families
- Immediate payments of $50,000 will be made to each of the families of people who have tragically died during Victoria’s recent bushfires.

4. Helping farmers
- $1.525 million, provided through BlazeAid, will help farmers replace boundary fences destroyed by the bushfires on their private property.
- Visit the BlazeAid website for information on how to access this support and also how to volunteer.

5. Immediate support
- Funding of up to $4 million will support residents in bushfire-affected areas who have experienced loss of, or damage to, their primary residence.
- From $1,000 to $4,500 will be available to people who have lost their principal place of residence. This includes renters and home owners but does not include landlords.
- These payments will be available through the Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund, The Salvation Army and three Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations.

Please visit the website for more information.

More than $19 million is available for those most affected by the bushfires.

Eligible applicants include organisations endorsed as item 1 Deductible Gift Recipients (DGR).

Funds raised will be used in a range of locally identified charitable areas to provide practical relief and recovery in the fire-affected areas.