Fire and disaster recovery

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more info listing

Mental health and wellbeing

People may experience grief or stress after a disaster like a bushfire. Sometimes the impact is obvious straight away, but often it is a slow process. Some impacts include shock, anger, depression, tension, irritability, anxiety or difficulty making decisions.

Regional Access offers free professional telephone and online counselling 24 hours a day, seven days a week for people 15 years and older living or working in regional South Australia.

Phone 1300 032 186 for immediate support or visit the Regional Access website and follow the links for online counselling.

Find out more about mental health support services after a disaster:

Mental health support resources by region:

Mental health resources for children

Emergencies and disasters are extremely stressful and it is normal for children, even infants, to feel overwhelmed. Emerging Minds has developed a Community Trauma Toolkit to help adults and children understand the impacts of disaster and how to help lessen these impacts.

Related information

Emotional recovery

Bushfires and rainwater quality

Bushfires generate large amounts of ash and debris which have the potential to contaminate rainwater supplies. Although ash and debris in rainwater does not represent a health risk, it could affect the colour, the clearness of the water and the taste.

The SA Health Water Quality team is available to answer questions during business hours on (08) 8226 7100.

Find out more about water quality after a fire:

SA Health information on bushfires and water quality

Guidance on use of rainwater tanks

SA Health information on rainwater

Donations

Donating money

A donation of money is the most helpful way that you can contribute to disaster-affected communities. It helps those impacted to buy exactly what they need and spend the funds in their local community.

St Vincent de Paul (Vinnies)

You can make a donation of money online through St Vincent de Paul Society. All donations are tax deductible, with the money going directly to those affected.

Donate to Vinnies SA Bushfire Appeal

Wildlife Recovery Fund

In partnership with the Nature Foundation SA, the South Australian Government has launched the Wildlife Recovery Fund.

This fund will be used to re-establish habitat for wildlife, particularly threatened and vulnerable species, in bushfire-affected regions in South Australia.

Donate to the Wildlife Recovery Fund

Donating goods

Please do not use emergency relief centres or recovery centres as drop-off points for donations. Dealing with donations diverts staff away from helping people who need their support.

Donations of money are the best way to help disaster-affected communities recover, as this lets people buy exactly what they need and spend locally.

Donations of goods:

often don’t match the needs of the community
pose real challenges to store, administer, distribute and dispose of.

Donation options

Consider holding a garage sale and converting the goods into money you can donate.

Ask charity groups if they can use your goods. Please ask before you donate.

St Vincent de Paul Society (Vinnies)
Phone: 13 18 12
Email: donations@svdpsa.org.au
St Vincent de Paul website

Donating food and groceries

Foodbank SA, 377 Cross Rd, Edwardstown (Open 9.00 am to 4.00 pm Monday to Friday)
Phone: 8351 1136
Email: reception@foodbanksa.org.au
Foodbank website

Donating animal fodder and agistment

Livestock SA
Phone: 8297 2299
Email: admin@livestocksa.org.au
Livestock SA website

Volunteering

Volunteer your time and skills through Volunteering SA/NT.

Document replacement

Birth or marriage certificate

If you have lost documents in the fires, the fees associated with replacement copies will be waived. You can access a priority service to replace:

birth
marriage
change of name certificates.

The Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages in any state will replace certificates free of charge. Free replacement certificates are restricted to documents for you and your immediate family.

Replace certificates after a disaster

Drivers licence or permit or Proof of Age card

Service SA will waive administration fees for drivers licences and proof of age cards. You will need to provide:

Name
Date of birth
Confirmation of your residential and postal address
Your licence number (if known).

Phone Service SA on 13 10 84 or go to a Service SA Customer Service Centre.

Passport

You may be eligible for a free replacement passport if yours was lost or damaged in a bushfire.

Australian Passport Replacement - Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
Phone the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade on 131 232.

If you have problems producing evidence about the loss of your property, you can ask for a letter of support. Phone the South Australian Recovery Hotline on 1800 302 787 or visit your local Recovery Centre.

Prescription for medicine

If you are a resident or firefighter affected by the Kangaroo Island and Cudlee Creek bushfires and don’t have access to your medicines or prescriptions, contact a local GP (or other health practitioner involved in your care).

If it is not possible for you to obtain a prescription, go to a pharmacy and explain your situation and the medicines you need. The pharmacist will see if you are eligible for an emergency supply of your medicine without a prescription.

Medicines for people affected by the Kangaroo Island and Cudlee Creek bushfires (SA Health)

Banknotes

If you have banknotes that have been damaged in the fires, you can submit a damaged banknote claim. The Reserve Bank will determine the value of the damaged banknotes and reimburse you the assessed amount. This may be less than the face value of the banknote/s.

Redeeming damaged banknotes

Related information — recovering fire-damaged records

National Archives has advice on how to salvage different types of material after a fire

Clean up and waste management

Asbestos and other hazardous materials

Legal advice for disaster-affected communities

The Law Society and the Legal Services Commission of South Australia offer free legal advice for those affected by a disaster.

Urgent legal advice

Contact the Legal Services Commission on weekdays between 9.00 am and 4.30 pm.

Phone 1300 366 424 to access the free telephone advisory service.

Non-urgent legal advice

The Law Society maintains a register of lawyers who have volunteered to be on hand to provide free legal assistance to victims of disasters.

Email disaster.planning@lawsocietysa.asn.au

Free mediation service

Uniting Communities is offering a free mediation service to assist with neighbourhood disputes resulting from the fires.

Visit Uniting Communities or phone 8342 1800. Please state you are a victim of the bushfires when making an appointment to ensure your case is given priority with booking times.

Free immigration advice

The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) South Australia branch is offering free immigration advice and assistance to bushfire affected businesses and visa applicants.

Visit the MIA South Australia website for more information.

Loss of motor vehicle or registered boat

If you have lost registered motor vehicles because of the fires, you can ask for a refund of some of your Registration and Third Party Insurance fees (PDF 130KB).

If you have lost a registered boat, you can ask for a refund of the unexpired registration fee (PDF 960KB). You need to state that the boat was destroyed in a recent fire.

All administration/processing fees will be waived.

Send forms to Service SA

Email SSACOG@sa.gov.au
Mail to GPO Box 1533, Adelaide SA 5001
Present in person at any Service SA Customer Service Centre.

Rebuilding structures

Architectural assistance

If you lost your home due to natural disaster and were uninsured or grossly under-insured, you may be able to get free advice from a registered architect.

Depending on your specific situation, the assistance may vary, from simple advice to full design and planning services.

You may also apply on behalf of a small local business or community that has lost its assets, such as shops, halls, churches or theatres.

Apply for architect assistance

Rebuilding fences

When rebuilding fences, you must consider:

Native Vegetation

Native vegetation is still protected – even after bushfire

Native vegetation in most parts of South Australia is protected under the Native Vegetation Act 1991, including after bushfire events.

If you need to:

back burn
clear fire breaks
remove vegetation for access

you must first check to see if you need approval.

Contacts to discuss native vegetation issues in fire impacted regions

Cudlee Creek

Elisa Sparrow
District Ecologist, Fleurieu Willunga Basin
Natural Resources Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges
Phone: 08 8550 3419
Mobile: 0428 861 613
5 Aldinga Road, Willunga SA 5172
PO Box 781, Willunga SA 5172

Kangaroo Island

Mr Kym Lashmar
Natural Resources Centre - Kingscote
37 Dauncey Street, Kingscote, SA, 5223
PO Box 39, Kingscote,SA, 5223
Phone: 08 8553 4444
Mobile: 0419 857 144

Keilira region and other South East fires

Jacqui Owen
Bush Management Advisor – Habitat Conservation (Mon - Wed)
Natural Resources South East
Department for Environment and Water
Phone: 08 8762 9702
Mobile: 0428 155 989
101 Cedar Avenue/PO Box 93
Naracoorte SA 5271

You can also visit the Department of Environment and Water (DEW) website
Phone the DEW Native Vegetation Branch on 8303 9777
Email nvc@sa.gov.au

Business assistance

If your business has been affected by bushfire, visit Business SA Bushfire Support or phone the Business Advice Hotline on 8300 0000

Recovery grants for small business

A grant of up to $50,000 is available for eligible small businesses affected by the bushfires for costs associated with clean-up, restoration and rebuilding.

The grant is designed to assist with the immediate costs of beginning to rebuild and recover and is provided under the jointly funded Commonwealth–State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

Visit the Supporting Business in South Australia website to learn more about eligibility criteria and to apply.

Phone the SA Department for Innovation and Skills on 1300 142 820
Email DIS.SmallBusiness@sa.gov.au

Rural business financial counselling

Visit Rural Business Support
Phone 8364 2577

Bushfire response survey for tourism businesses

The South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) wants to hear from South Australian tourism operators.

If you have been directly or indirectly affected by the recent fires, you can give feedback through the Tourism Business Bushfire Response Survey.

The survey will help identify key priorities for recovery of the tourism industry.

The South Australian Tourism Commission also has:

links to key resources for tourism businesses
summaries of key outcomes from recent in-region response meetings

See the South Australian Tourism Commission Bushfire Response web pages.

Page last updated : 23 Dec 2019

Provided by:

SA Department for Human Services

URL:

https://dhs.sa.gov.au/services/disaster-recovery/common-bushfire-info/more-info-listing

Last Updated:

23 Dec 2019

Printed on:

26 Feb 2020