Financial assistance available from Thursday for Far West NSW residents impacted by power outage

People are encouraged to apply via the Service NSW website and mobile apps, with easy-to-use instructions available.

Eligible adults will receive a single, one-off payment of $200 to help provide some financial relief for expenses following the severe storm which collapsed seven transmission towers which serviced the area.

Small-to-medium business owners can claim a one-off payment of $400.

To be eligible for the Power Outage Support Grant, an individual's primary place of residence, or a business's principal place of operation, must be within the impacted Local Government Areas of Broken Hill, Central Darling and the Unincorporated Area, which covers the north west corner of NSW.

Businesses with an active ABN at the time of the outage and fewer than 200 employees as of October 17 will be eligible to apply. Around 1,200 small-to-medium businesses are eligible for the grants.

For grants for individuals, apply through the Service NSW app or visit: https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/support-for-far-west-residents.

For the business grants, apply through the Service NSW Business Bureau app or visit: https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/support-for-far-west-business.

To make a claim, please jump online and follow the easy-to-use instructions.

While applications cannot be made over the phone, people can call Service NSW on 13 77 88 if they need assistance with making an application online or using the app.

If people need additional assistance, they can visit the Service NSW service centre at 115 Bagot St Broken Hill or the Recovery Assistance Point at 329-331 Blende St Broken Hill between 9am and 6pm.

Once an application has been approved, residents and business owners can expect to see the one-off payments in their bank account within a few days.

Applications close on 31 March 2025.

The NSW Government's Power Outage Support Grants come in addition to the Commonwealth Disaster Recovery Allowance, which provides up to 13 weeks of income support for eligible workers and sole traders who have experienced loss of income as a result of the storms and outage.

Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns said:

"This region has gone through a major disruption, with households and businesses hit hard.

"This money will go some of the way to easing the impact.

"We urge locals and businesses to access this support, with the Service NSW app or website being the easiest ways to apply.

"Log-on later this week to get the support you're eligible for."

Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib said:

"With cost-of-living challenges, losing a fridge full of perishables can hurt, so Service NSW has been working to make these grants available as quickly as possible to get additional support to where it's needed.

"Both the Reconstruction Authority and Service NSW are on the ground providing assistance to the people of Broken Hill, Tibooburra, Wilcannia, Menindee and White Cliffs following the power outage, including distributing thousands of food hampers and supermarket and fuel vouchers.

"These grants will also help support the local economy as the community recovers from the impact of the storm."

Minister for Western NSW and Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty said:

"The grants are available from Thursday, and we encourage local residents and business to jump online and make the application.

"These Power Outage Support Grants are the latest in a range of actions the government has taken in the weeks since a severe storm cut power to the Far West region of NSW and we thank everyone from around the state who have worked with us to help households affected."

Member for Barwon Roy Butler said:

"Communities across the Far West who have been affected by this power outage will welcome this assistance and I look forward to it being delivered as quickly as possible.

"I have been working closely with the Minns Labor Government to ensure support is in place and the opening of these grants is another step forward for the recovery of the region."

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