Extra funding to help flood-affected families with back to school expenses

07/02/2020

The Palaszczuk Government is pitching in to help Townsville families affected by the 2019 floods get on top of New Year expenses such as back-to-school costs. Minister for Communities Coralee O’Rourke said the Palaszczuk Government was providing a one-off funding contribution of $7000 to the North Townsville Community Hub to distribute to flood-affected families. “We have identified a need for assistance to support families, who were impacted by the Monsoon Trough flooding event in early 2019, with back-to-school expenses and other start-of-year costs,” Mrs O’Rourke said. “A year may have passed since the flooding devastated the Townsville community, but for many families the financial impacts are still being felt.

“This funding will help families kick start their 2020 and help get their children back into school while they continue their ongoing recovery from the floods. “We know that back-to-school costs can be tough on families and that’s why we’re giving these flood-affected families a helping hand.” The North Townsville Community Hub is a Palaszczuk Government funded neighbourhood centre serving areas of Townsville including Bohle Plains, Deeragun, Mount Louisa and Northern Beaches. The service receives more than $120,000 funding each year to deliver community support services through the neighbourhood centre, as well as more than $5700 in Emergency Relief funding and $1500 to deliver the Connect NDIS Volunteer Program.

Mrs O’Rourke said the Palaszczuk Government was committed to the long-term recovery of flood-affected communities in Townsville. “We’re here for the long haul to support flood-affected Townsville residents to recover and rebuild in the wake of the 2019 Monsoon Trough event,” she said. “To date more than $30.7 million in personal hardship assistance has been paid out, benefitting almost 103,000 flood-affected residents in Townsville. “This funding was delivered under the jointly-funded Commonwealth/State-Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).”