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The Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund (VBAF) has given in-principle approval to $20.5 million in medium and long-term recovery initiatives for communities impacted by the 2009 Victorian bushfires.
The VBAF chair, Pat McNamara, said the Fund’s independent Panel had agreed to a range of programs and projects aimed at assisting bushfire-affected communities with their continuing recovery.
The Panel’s decision was based on recommendations from the expert Community Advisory Committee (CAC), chaired by former Victorian Government Minister Alan Brown and made up of seven community members with a wealth of experience in bushfire recovery.
The CAC ran public consultations in bushfire-affected towns and regions across Victoria to determine communities’ medium and long-term recovery needs.
Mr McNamara said $7 million had been allocated to state-wide initiatives which reflected common themes that were raised by all communities.
The state-wide allocation comprises:
- $3.5 million for psychological support and youth;
- $2.9 million for on-ground assistance;
- $0.5 million for the bereaved; and
- $0.1 million for people dispersed or displaced from their communities in the aftermath of the fires.
Mr Brown said: “On-going psychological support – particularly for young people – was the number one priority raised in the public consultations, while further assistance for property recovery and clean-up was also a key issue.”
“Communities also expressed a strong desire to provide further support for the bereaved and those people who had become displaced or dispersed after the fires”, he said.
Mr McNamara said the remaining $13.5 million had been allocated in- principle to community projects in areas which were hardest hit by the fires.
“The committee has listened to the needs and priorities of people in fire-affected communities and this funding reflects those consultations,” he said.
Mr Brown said each community would be able to run an array of localised projects from their individual allocations.
“Community groups will be contacted early in the new year to finalise their bids and proposals and the details of most projects will be announced soon after,” he said.
“These are the projects and programs which communities themselves nominated as being priorities for their medium and long-term recovery.
“The CAC received more than 350 submissions and proposals during the consultation period, which shows that residents in bushfire-affected communities were really engaged with the process.”
Mr McNamara said the VBAF Panel had recently agreed that additional interest which had accrued on the Fund should be allocated to the medium and long-term recovery allotment, taking the pool of funds available from $16 million to $20.5 million.
Mr McNamara also thanked the committee for its work and praised the efforts of its members in consulting with fire-affected communities.
“The CAC has been extremely diligent in its work and a lot of time and effort has gone into the task of canvassing each community’s priorities in this next important phase of recovery,” he said.
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