Tuesday, 29 August 2023

Flood recovery initiatives

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (17:19): (423) My adjournment matter is directed to the Minister for Consumer Affairs, and the action that I seek is for the minister to extend the funding provided to Anglicare Victoria for a dedicated financial counselling service on the ground in Rochester to assist victims of the October 2022 flood event. Last week saw the commencement of the Environment and Planning Committee’s inquiry into the 2022 flood event in Victoria. It was entirely appropriate that the inquiry’s first hearing day was in Rochester, the community worst hit by the floods of October 2022, where 90 per cent of homes had above-floor flooding. It was both confronting and heartbreaking for me and my fellow committee members to hear firsthand accounts from victims of the impact that the flood had on their families, their homes and their community.

As victims continue to navigate the long hard road to recovery some are only now attempting to come to terms with dealing with the impact the flood has had on them, including stripping out their homes and negotiating settlements with insurance companies. I first raised the need for financial counselling services in Rochester with the minister in February this year, and during a visit to Rochester on 20 July I was devastated to hear that funding for the financial counselling service that is being delivered by Anglicare is due to expire in November. I have since spoken to the minister and also emailed him regarding the vital work the counsellors are doing and the need to extend the funding.

Currently Anglicare Victoria is funded by the state government to provide two financial counsellors in Rochester, and despite the enormous workload, these counsellors are achieving positive results for Rochester residents. For example, I have been informed that nine families received a combined total of $500,000 in additional insurance payments due to the work of the financial counsellors. It was also reported to me that as at 20 July the two financial counsellors had assisted 158 families, with 114 of these cases still ongoing, and that around 30 families were on a waiting list to be allocated to a case worker at that date. Unfortunately, due to the current case loads of the two counsellors, the wait time is approximately nine weeks.

It is concerning that the current government funding to Anglicare Victoria for the two financial counsellors expires in November, despite there still being a huge demand from many Rochester families for the service. Anglicare Victoria have managed financial counselling for every major disaster since the 2009 bushfires. Their data from past disasters shows that financial counselling services are needed by recovering communities for around three years post a major disaster. The present financial counsellors are making a difference in flood victims’ lives, and failing to continue the funding for these services past November 2023 would be a huge blow to this community, which continues to battle to recover from this devastating event.