Without power for days after a storm in Queensland: the hardship grants you can apply for

Most storm outages in South East Queensland are over by morning. Some are not. After a big one, streets can wait days for crews, and the fridge, the phone charger and the medicine cupboard all become problems. The state has money set aside for that, and many households never hear about it until the week is over. This is what the Queensland Government's own pages say about it, and the limits that catch people out.

The grants only open for an activated disaster area

The government's page on disaster grants lists five personal hardship payments, all of them for people in activated disaster areas. An area is activated for a specific event, so a blackout in a suburb that was not activated does not open the grants. The pages do not say where to check, so the quickest way is to ring the Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349, which is open all day and night, or to call 13 QGOV (13 74 68).

The grant for losing power: five days or more

The essential services hardship assistance grant is the one aimed at a long blackout. To qualify, all of this has to be true:

• your home is your principal residence, it is in the eligible area, and you lived there when the disaster happened
• it lost an essential service, electricity included, for 5 or more consecutive days because of the disaster
• your utility provider confirmed the loss
• the loss caused you personal hardship

It is not income or asset tested, and non-citizens can apply. The amount is set per person with a limit for larger families, and it can change between events, so read it on the government page rather than relying on a figure passed around after the last storm.

Two details trip people up. A generator or solar system only counts as a power source if it is the home's sole one, and an outage shorter than five consecutive days is not covered, however bad it was. If you lose power on and off for a week but never for five days in a row, this grant is not the one.

The grant for food and urgent needs

The emergency hardship assistance grant is a different payment with a different purpose. It helps with food, clothing, medical supplies or temporary accommodation if you live in or are stranded in an eligible area, you have suffered hardship because of the event and you cannot meet your immediate essential needs. It is not income or asset tested either.

It does not cover the loss of power or other essential services. That is the other grant's job, and the government's page says so. If the blackout is the problem, the essential services grant is the one to apply for, and the emergency grant can be claimed alongside it for the food and medicine.

If the damage is bigger than the blackout

The same government page lists help beyond these two. There is a grant for essential household contents and another for repairs, both for people who are uninsured or whose insurance claim was declined and who meet an income test. There is also a scheme for uninsured households that need electricity, gas, water or sewerage inspected, repaired and reconnected. If your home was damaged and the power cannot come back until an electrician has looked at it, ask about that one.

How to apply

1. Check whether your area is activated by ringing the hotline on 1800 173 349.
2. Apply through the Community Recovery Portal, by phone on the same hotline, or in person at a Community Recovery Hub.
3. Have proof of identity and where you live: photo ID, a Medicare card, or a recent rates or utility account in your name and address.
4. Ask your utility provider to confirm the loss, because the essential services grant needs it, and note the dates the power was out.
5. Payment is by bank transfer and can take five working days to arrive.

The pages give no application deadline. Ask on the hotline how long the grants stay open for your event, and apply early.

Separate from the outage payment from the network

Grants are the state's help for a disaster. The network has its own rules on paying a household after a long outage, covered in what the guaranteed service levels owe you. The two are different things, and eligibility for one does not depend on the other.

When the lights are back on

Once the emergency is over, check the next bill. If you receive the Queensland Electricity Rebate, confirm it is still being applied, and if the bill looks wrong, work through the usual reasons before assuming it is a one-off.