TCP DISASTER PLANNING AND RECOVERY RESEARCH INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
- Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) insights
- Neighbourhood Centres insights

For immediate help or life-threatening situations: Call 000. For help with damage: Call the State Emergency Service on 132 500. For government assistance: Visit https://www.disasterassist.gov.au/ for available support. For mental health enquiries or people in crisis: Call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For insurance claims: Call the Insurance Council of Australia on 1800 734 621.

TCP DISASTER PLANNING AND RECOVERY RESEARCH INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
- Financial Counselling, financial capability, and community finance insights
- Community legal services insights
- Ombudsmen insights

MID NORTH COAST LEGAL CENTRE - Free legal help for people on the Mid North Coast of NSW - https://mnclegal.org.au/whatwedo/#legal Disaster legal issues toolkit - https://mnclegal.org.au/toolkit-2/

MORTGAGE STRESS VICTORIA - Legal, financial counselling and social work assistance is available to people with a mortgage over their owner-occupied property in Victoria who are affected by disasters. We can help with their mortgage, other debts, or home, contents or car insurance claims.

NATIONAL DEBT HELPLINE - A not-for-profit financial counselling service that helps people tackle their debt problems. It is a free, independent and confidential service. Call 1800 007 007 to speak to a financial counsellor. Read more here.

MONEYCARE - Moneycare has specialist funding for disaster response to provide financial counselling services to support community members impacted by disasters. Call 1800 722 363 to make an appointment. 

HSBC - HSBC has activated in response to recent disasters including waiving fees and charges and customised payment arrangements for home loans, credit card and personal loans. Call 1300 555 988 during business hours (weekdays from 8am to 5pm AEST); or email at customerassist@hsbc.com.au. If you require more information on financial hardship assistance, please visit HSBC Money Worries.

FINANCIAL RIGHTS LEGAL CENTRE – Specialist community legal centre providing free legal advice and advocacy on consumer, credit, debt, banking and insurance issues, including disaster-related financial stress.
Contact: 1800 844 949

LEGAL AID QUEENSLAND – Free legal help for eligible Queenslanders, including advice and representation on disaster-related legal issues such as housing, insurance, debt, and domestic and family violence.
Contact: 1300 65 11 88

FINANCIAL COUNSELLING AUSTRALIA – Peak body connecting people to free, independent financial counselling services for those experiencing financial hardship, including disaster impacts.

AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY (AFCA) – Free and independent ombudsman service for people affected by natural disasters who are unable to resolve issues with banks, insurers or other financial firms.
Contact: 1800 337 444

TCP DISASTER PLANNING AND RECOVERY RESEARCH INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Banking insights

AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION (ABA) – National industry body providing information on how banks support customers experiencing financial hardship, including during natural disasters. The ABA’s Financial Assistance Hub offers step-by-step guidance and a list of banks’ direct hardship contact lines.

ASIC - ASIC’s Moneysmart provides financial guidance and support to Australians affected by natural disasters. Information is available on crisis support, accessing financial hardship from a bank or lender, managing the insurance claims process, how to spot a scam, and support for small businesses, on the Moneysmart website and the What to do after a natural disaster factsheet.

WESTPAC GROUP – Disaster-related financial assistance for consumer and business customers across Westpac and St.George, including payment relief, fee waivers and tailored hardship support.
Westpac Assist (consumer & business): 1800 067 497
St.George Assist (consumer & business): 1800 629 795

COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA (CBA) – Emergency Assistance is available for eligible CommBank customers who have been impacted by a natural disaster or other unforeseen event. CommBank can offer a range of support options tailored to your circumstances such as claims, loan deferrals and other financial relief for you or your business.
Emergency Assist:1800 314 695 
Financial Assistance Solutions team: 1300 720 814

If you are a financial counsellor and would like to engage CBA about a specific customer, you can contact CBA’s Represented Customers team on 1300 993 258
Indigenous Customer Assistance Line (ICAL): 1800 700 682 
For General Enquiries: 13 22 21
Business customers can also call 132 607 or speak with their dedicated CommBank relationship manager.

ANZ – Banking support for customers affected by natural disasters, including payment relief, fee waivers and tailored hardship assistance.
Contact: 13 13 14

BENDIGO BANK – Disaster support for personal, business and agribusiness customers, including loan assistance and insurance claims support.
Contacts: Mortgage Help 1800 652 146 | Agribusiness 1300 660 115

NAB – Disaster relief and financial assistance for customers impacted by natural disasters, including loan deferrals, fee waivers and disaster relief grants (when activated).

RECOVERIESCORP – Specialist provider supporting customers experiencing vulnerability and disaster-related financial difficulty through tailored recovery approaches.

TCP DISASTER PLANNING AND RECOVERY RESEARCH INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
- Carers and support organisation insights
- Mental health services insights

TCP DISASTER PLANNING AND RECOVERY RESEARCH INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
- Insurance insights

TCP DISASTER PLANNING AND RECOVERY RESEARCH INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
- Utilities and Telecommunication insights

TELSTRA - Telstra’s Disaster Response campaign will include a range of new initiatives to support Australians ahead of what is predicted to be a challenging season.  
Initiatives include:  

• Extra data automatically granted for postpaid mobile customers in a disaster affected area.  
• The upgrade of 1000 payphones in disaster-prone areas, with free Wi-Fi, USB charging and backup power. 
• Reaffirming our commitment to emergency roaming, and our intent to conduct a simulation within our own network as a first step to demonstrate it’s possible. 
• Launch of the Telstra Response Team – a new way to identify our teams on the ground or at the end of our dedicated disaster assistance line. 
• Trialling portable satellite technology that can help local communities connect when mobile and fixed connections are down in a disaster area.  

This is in addition to the temporary infrastructure, generators and disaster recovery experts we deploy to help keep our customers and the community connected to Australia’s largest mobile network.  

OPTUS -  When customers are impacted by a natural disaster event, such as a flood, bushfire, earthquake, or cyclone, the Optus Specialist Care team is here to ensure they stay safe and connected. Optus can assist with managing your service, fixing any issues caused by the disaster, and providing payment support. If you need to talk to someone from the Optus Specialist Care team, contact them directly on 1800507581, visit their website or if you prefer to engage in person, locate your local store or Optus Business Centres. 

Optus is dedicated to supporting customers affected by a disaster and will develop customised solutions to ensure our customers get the support they need at the right time. Depending on the community's needs and utilising our local store network; this may involve providing portable charging for devices, as well as recharge vouchers, SIM packs, replacement devices and any ground assistance needed by our customers to keep them connected.

TRANSURBAN - Toll Credit Programme - If a retail customer has used our roads due to being impacted by the Queensland Fires, we can provide toll credit support to cover their travel when evacuating. 

If they call, they will get a Linkt Assist Advisor on the phone straight away on 1300 767 865 between 8am and 6pm, Mon - Fri. It is preferred that they call us, so we can get them sorted straight away. 

There is more information on the Linkt Assist Webpage and the Linkt Assist Hardship Application form which contains the hardship criteria.

TCP DISASTER PLANNING AND RECOVERY RESEARCH INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
- Utilities and Telecommunication insights

ENERGY CONSUMERS AUSTRALIA -  ECA has developed The Energy Ready Toolkit, a free resource for Australian communities to help them prepare a plan for if the power goes out and ensure they remain energy resilient. The Energy Ready Toolkit can be downloaded here.

ORIGIN - Comprehensive information is available on Origin Energy's Help & Support Webpage and Financial Assistance Options Webpage.

SOUTH EAST WATER - If you need to report a fault or emergency, our team is here 24/7 to support you: https://southeastwater.com.au/faults. Whether you need support paying your water bill as you recover, or just handy ways to manage your payments, we’re here to help. Visit South East Water's Support Webpage

South East Water also has a Domestic and Family Violence Policy with a ‘quick exit’ button.

You can learn about live network interruptions here: southeastwater.com.au/live or follow us on Facebook (@SEWmelbourne) or X (@southeastwater) to keep across incidences near you.

THE ENERGY CHARTER - The Energy Charter has a Disaster Response Playbook which includes recommendations on Communications & Education, Coordination & Collaboration, Planning & Preparedness and Learning Loops & Better Practice. You can also learn more on The Energy Charter's Resilience resource library. 

ALINTA ENERGY – Energy retailer providing disaster-related customer support, including hardship assistance and flexible payment arrangements.
Contact: todd.mcdonald@alintaenergy.com.au

ERGON ENERGY RETAIL – Energy retailer providing targeted disaster support, including flexible payment arrangements and hardship assistance.

AGL – Energy retailer providing disaster and financial hardship support, including payment extensions, instalment plans and the Staying Connected hardship program.

TCP DISASTER PLANNING AND RECOVERY RESEARCH INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
- Local and National not for profit organisation insights
- Small business services insights

ASK IZZY - A directory of community and social services across Australia. Read More