Legal Assistance Disaster Relief - 2025 North and Far North Tropical Low

About

The $1.425 million Legal Assistance Disaster Relief Package will provide extraordinary disaster response legal assistance services to individuals and communities (small businesses, primary producers and not-for-profit organisations) for matters like insurance claims, tenancy problems and property damage in areas impacted by North and Far North Tropical Low, 29 January – 28 February 2025.

Objectives

The Package will support the delivery of legal assistance services to individuals and communities (small businesses, primary producers and not-for-profit organisations) in areas affected by the disaster event. 

The outcomes of the Package will be:
For individuals including individuals, households, families and small businesses:

• trauma-informed legal assistance services delivered to parties rendered vulnerable as a result of the eligible disaster event
• people and communities are empowered to understand and assert their legal rights and responsibilities to address, or prevent, their legal problems
• community members receive appropriate health and social services, through appropriate referrals
• displaced populations are reconnected with essential legal frameworks and social services
• households, families, and individuals have the legal information needed to make decisions
• small businesses have the legal information and support they need to continue recovering from the disaster event.

For the community:

• community members are able to respond to their own needs and to support other members of the community
• community members are better prepared in the event of future disaster events and legal networks and support mechanisms are more capable of adapting to emergencies when these occur.

Eligible council areas

• Burdekin Shire Council
• Cairns Regional Council
• Cassowary Coast Regional Council
• Hinchinbrook Shire Council
• Palm Island Aboriginal Shire council
• Townsville City Council
• Tablelands Regional Council
• Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council

Funding acknowledgement

The package is jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments to support Queensland communities in their recovery from the  North and Far North Tropical Low, 29 January – 28 February 2025 event.

Media statement