2.9 million Australians have received federal disaster support since January 2022

An estimated 2.9 million Australians have received federal government assistance in response to disaster events throughout 2022, according to Services Australia.

More than $3 billion in Disaster Recovery Payments and $192 million in Disaster Recovery Allowance have been made.

Eight nationally significant disasters have occurred since January, with the July floods alone seeing Services Australia finalising a record 160,000 claims within a 24-hour period – triple the volume of claims processed during the peak of pandemic support in 2020.

Both federal assistance payments have been made in addition to the jointly-funded Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) which are currently active across five states.

The DRFA provides additional support for individuals, primary producers, small businesses and not-for-profit organisations, and also supports councils with clean up and repair of roads and essential infrastructure.

With several states continuing to experience ongoing flooding, federal assistance remains available for impacted residents in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

For more information on disaster support available for different flood events, visit the Services Australia website here.