Senator HEFFERNAN (2:05 PM) —My question is to the Minister for Human Services, Senator Ellison. Will the minister inform the Senate of assistance being provided by the Australian government and its agencies to those affected by the terrible flooding in the Hunter and on the Central Coast of New South Wales?

Senator ELLISON (Minister for Human Services) —I thank Senator Heffernan for an important question on a matter which has been the subject of great tragedy. In fact, it has been a tragic week in Australia. We saw the terrible floods in New South Wales which came hard on the heels of a tragic rail accident in northern Victoria which claimed 11 lives. I am sure all senators would join with me in extending our sympathies to the families and friends of those who died and were injured in that terrible accident.

In that incident, as in the floods, we have seen great work being done by volunteers and officials from government at all levels. The flooding in the Hunter and on the Central Coast of New South Wales has resulted in the regrettable loss of life and damage to property on a significant scale and again we have seen Australians come to the fore in helping their fellows—not only officials from governments at all levels, as I say, but also non-government organisations and volunteers.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister announced a package of government disaster recovery payments for those people who have suffered serious injury, have lost their principal place of residence or have had their residence rendered uninhabitable by the floods for a period of 48 hours. This relief will amount to $1,000 per eligible adult and $400 per eligible child. People who believe they may be entitled to assistance should call the Centrelink hotline on 1802211 if they have any doubts, and I would urge them to do so. This hotline was established on Sunday, and as at 9 o’clock this morning more than 1,700 calls had been made. Information regarding eligibility for the payment, including the claim form, is available on the Centrelink website: www.centrelink.gov.au.

We have Centrelink officers working 24 hours a day seven days a week. In fact, over the weekend Centrelink employees came out to assist those who were affected by the flood, notwithstanding that some of these people themselves had also been affected. All Centrelink customer service centres are operating save for the Wyong office, which I understand has been flood damaged. Centrelink has also assigned priority to phone calls from people in flood affected areas to ensure that those members of the community most in need receive service as a priority. I mentioned that there were other agencies involved, and we are working closely with the New South Wales Department of Community Services and other non-government organisations. Cooperation across the board has been outstanding and the response from volunteers and communities in the Hunter region has also been outstanding.

Centrelink customers in the affected areas who rely on fortnightly income support payments are being assisted through the provision of telephone lodgements of their payment-generating forms. This will remain in place for those customers for the remainder of the week. I commend the work being done by not only those in Centrelink but also those across all other agencies. I commend the cooperation that we are getting from state and local government authorities, members of the community and especially volunteers. This again is another demonstration of the Australian community coming to the fore in a time of crisis.