Disaster assistance following December's Tropical Cyclone Hilda

Written on the 16 January 2018

Minister for Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity Angus Taylor and the Western Australian Minister for Emergency Services Francis Logan today announced the activation of disaster assistance for Broome in response to the impacts from Tropical Cyclone Hilda on 27 December 2017.

Minister Taylor said assistance was being provided through the jointly-funded Commonwealth-State Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA).

"The Australian and Western Australian governments are committed to working together to help the recovery of disaster affected communities like the local government area of Broome," Mr Taylor said.

"The north of Western Australia has again faced heavy rains and winds this week from Cyclone Joyce. This assistance announced today will help recovery efforts from the earlier Cyclone Hilda event just after Christmas, including restoration and replacement of road infrastructure and removal of debris from residential properties."

Minister Logan said that a range of assistance was now available to support eligible residents, small businesses and primary producers within the disaster affected local government area of Broome.

"We are also providing assistance to councils and state agencies to cover the cost of cleaning up and restoring damaged public infrastructure," Mr Logan said.

Assistance available under the NDRRA may include:

• personal hardship and distress assistance for affected individuals and families
• financial support for affected local governments and state agencies to help with the costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged essential public assets
• interest rate subsidies for small businesses and primary producers, and
• freight subsidies for primary producers.

The financial assistance available for WANDRRA for this event is divided into various categories. For further information, visit:
www.oem.wa.gov.au/funding/wandrra

Further information on disaster assistance is available on the Australian Government's Disaster Assist website at disasterassist.gov.au and the Office of Emergency Management website oem.wa.gov.au.