Services Australia
Services Australia offers payments and help for people affected by personal crisesExternal Link, severe financial hardshipExternal Link, homelessnessExternal Link and natural disastersExternal Link.
Natural disasters support
The National Emergency Management AgencyExternal Link helps Australians who have been affected by natural disasters, including floods, bushfires and drought.
Disaster AssistExternal Link offers disaster recovery funding arrangements. This includes the Disaster Recovery Payment and Disaster Recovery Allowance.
Rural support
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry offers drought and rural supportExternal Link for farmers and communities.
Services Australia offers a Farm Household AllowanceExternal Link payment to farming families in financial hardship.
Reporting financial help received
If you do receive financial help following a natural disaster from any source, find out about when and how to report natural disaster payments and grants in your tax return.
Crisis Payment
You may be eligible for a one-off, non-taxable paymentExternal Link if you've experienced an extreme circumstance and are in severe financial hardship.
There are different types of Crisis PaymentsExternal Link for different extreme circumstances.
Services Australia consider an extreme circumstance to be one of the following:
- you experienced an incident of family and domestic violence that forced you to leave your home
- you stayed in your home after experiencing domestic violence and the family member responsible left or was removed from the home
- you were forced to leave your home because of a circumstance and it’s unreasonable for you to return to your home in the near future
- you arrived in Australia as a humanitarian entrant for the first time
- you were in prison or psychiatric confinement for a period of at least 14 days.
Leaving Violence Program
The Leaving Violence ProgramExternal Link started on 1 July 2025. It supports eligible victim-survivors leaving violent intimate partner relationships.
The Leaving Violence Program is not a crisis support service.
The program is delivered in 2 ways, with:
- a national program delivered by a national provider
- regional trials in 4 regions across Australia, delivered by First Nations-led organisations.
Eligible victim-survivors can get up to $5,000 in financial support, including up to $1,500 in cash and the remaining funds in goods and services. Other supports include safety planning, risk assessment and referrals to other services for up to 12 weeks.
1800RESPECT
1800RESPECT is the national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service.
1800RESPECT provides free support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If you or someone you know is experiencing (or at risk of experiencing) domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.auExternal Link for online chat and video call services.