Support for students and their families affected by the floods

Financial support for affected families

Emergency payments are available for people whose homes have been affected by the flooding. For information, visit Financial support available for people impacted by the 2022 floods.

Replacing lost or damaged school items

If your school student’s essential school items were lost or damaged in the floods, you can get help to replace them. Support to replace items of up to the value of $1,200 is available for each school student. Depending on what items are being replaced, you will either get:

a direct replacement, or
a voucher for the value of the item. You can use the voucher at a suitable stockists

Essential school items include:

uniforms
shoes
laptop
laptop sleeve
internet data sim
stationery pack
calculator
headphones
work boots
workwear
swimwear and accessories
sunscreen

How to apply

Contact the Department of Education hotline on 1800 338 663 to register your request for support. The hotline is open from 1.00 pm to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

As part of the process, you’ll need to give:

your family name
contact details for example, residential address, phone number email address
information about how the flood impacts your family, for example, loss or damage to your home, contents and/or belongings
your child’s government school name(s)
the names of the school children in your household

Your school student’s school or State Schools’ Relief will contact you if they need more information to support your application, such as which school-related items need to be replaced.

Information about flood assistance in your language

If you’re experiencing financial hardship

If you're experiencing ongoing financial hardship, you should contact your child's school to talk about cost-support options. This includes the option of getting help through State Schools’ Relief.

State Schools’ Relief can support with the cost of essential school supplies, including:

uniforms
footwear
stationary packs
digital items such as internet USB dongles and headphones

If you are a parent or carer and you need financial assistance with the above items, please request an appointment with your school principal, assistant principal, or welfare/wellbeing coordinator to discuss your needs.

Schools can apply directly, via the SSR online portal, whenever they believe there is a need to support a student whose family/carers are facing difficulty in providing the appropriate uniform, footwear, or educational items for attending school.

Support from the NDIS for children with disability

If your child gets NDIS funding and their belongings such as assistive technologies need repairs or replacement, the NDIS can help. Contact the NDIS National Contact Centre on 1800 800 110 or visit Supporting participants through severe weather in Victoria and Tasmania for more information.

Mental health and wellbeing support for school-aged children

Children and young people may experience longer-term emotional and psychosocial effects because of emergencies such as floods.

If your child requires support, you may contact your school to talk about:

support through student support services
how secondary school students can access counselling and wellbeing support
for secondary students, a referral to headspace face-to-face and phone counselling services. You can also contact headspace directly on 1800 650 890 or eheadspace.org.au

You may also get support through:

Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800 or kidshelp.com.au
Parentline: 1300 30 1300 or parentline.com.au

For information visit, Mental health and wellbeing support.

Recovery to help children deal with trauma

The following resources can help support children and young people deal with a difficult or traumatic time:

mental health and wellbeing toolkits for children and parents and/or carers
the Schools Mental Health Menu of evidence-based programs and initiatives, including specific programs for disaster, grief and loss
information about supporting children and young people with distressing events
information about mental health support after an emergency
Phoenix Australia resources, including for helping yourself and children after a traumatic event
the Emerging Minds - Community Trauma Toolkit includes tips for helping children through a traumatic event
Birdie’s Tree recovery suite is specifically designed for children aged 0 to 5 to work through traumatic experiences and 'big feelings'

Translated resources about how to deal with trauma

Translated information is available for:

Family violence supports following emergencies

Family violence can increase during and after emergency and traumatic situations. If your family is experiencing family violence, talk to your child's school. They can offer support.

More resources and support can be found on:

Donations

If you would like to volunteer with flood recovery or donate to those affected, visit Volunteer and donate.

Find out more

For information about recovery support for people and communities visit, 2022 Victorian flood recovery.

For up-to-date emergency warnings and information, visit Emergency Recovery Victoria.

Education

Reviewed 11 May 2023