Defence Bank is here for our members in North Queensland dealing with the current floods.
We value our partnership with Defence Bank members and our strong history with members of the ADF, Veterans and their families including in Townsville where we have a long-standing relationship with the Defence community.
In times of financial hardship, Defence Bank is always here to help and can offer assistance tailored to individual circumstances.
For eligible members, this may take the form of reduced repayments, an interest only period associated with the postponement of repayments or a number of other options dependent on the members’ individual circumstances.
Download the Hardship Assistance Application form here.
To find out more, we encourage impacted members to contact Defence Bank’s Financial Hardship Officer on 1800 773 158 or email membercare@defencebank.com.au to see how we can help you.
The Federal and Queensland governments have so far announced a range of assistance and recovery packages.
This includes assistance available for eligible Townsville and Gordonvale residents under the Personal Hardship Assistance Scheme:
- Emergency Hardship Assistance Grants – $180 per person, up to $900 for a family of five or more to purchase immediate essentials like food, clothing and medicine.
- Essential Services Hardship Assistance – $150 per person, up to $750 for a family of five or more to assist with immediate needs following the loss of essential services at home for more than five consecutive days.
- Essential Household Contents Grants – up to $1,765 for individuals and up to $5,300 for couples or families to replace destroyed essential household contents such as bed linen and white goods.
- Structural Assistance Grants – up to $80,000 for uninsured, income-tested owner-occupiers towards the repair or replacement of a disaster damaged dwelling to return it to a safe and habitable condition.
- Support is also available under the Essential Services Safety and Reconnection Scheme through income-tested grants to help uninsured residents reconnect damaged services like electricity, gas, water or sewerage. Up to $5,000 per household.
To check eligibility and apply for DRFA Personal Hardship Assistance visit www.qld.gov.au or the Queensland Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349.
For more information about DRFA assistance and how it’s helping disaster hit communities visit www.disasterassist.gov.au or www.qra.qld.gov.au.
