Funding, recovery and counselling information to support principals and teachers affected by the 2020 bushfires.
Support and counselling
Resources are available for you, your family and staff affected by the bushfires.
Employee assistance program, including manager assist
All staff have access to 24-hour counselling through the
Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
The service is also available to your immediate family members who are 18 years or older.
Manager Assist is a dedicated telephone advisory service available to support principals, school leaders and managers. It gives you advice and coaching on how to support staff at risk.
To access the Employee Assistance Program or Manager Assist:
Early intervention program
The
Early Intervention Program (education login required) gives confidential support to all principal class officers. It helps identify emerging and existing health and wellbeing issues and prevents them from becoming more serious.
To access the service contact the Early Intervention Program:
Other resources
Refer to the Emergency Vic website for
relief and recovery services include financial assistance.
Supporting students and their families
Support is available to help make the costs of education more affordable for families.
For more information
For guidance on how you can support students, including a guide to managing trauma, explore:
The
bushfire information for parents and carers page includes a list of counselling services you can refer students and their families to.
The VCAA's
Bushfire Education website includes teaching resources and lesson plans on bushfires, including preparing for, responding to, and recovering from fires.
Supporting students experiencing family violence
Family violence incidents and risks can increase during emergency and traumatic situations and in the aftermath of these situations.
Find information and resources to help you identify and support, refer to: students who may be experiencing family violence.
Supporting children and youth in disasters
School staff and leaders working in bushfire affected communities may need to assist students and families whose lives have been disrupted caused by bushfires.
Find information and tips to help you support, refer to: students impacted by disasters.
Funding to help schools and families
The Victorian and Commonwealth Governments jointly announced $15.95 million in funding to help families and schools affected by the bushfires.
Getting kids back to school after the bushfires
The Victorian and Commonwealth governments announced a one-off commitment of $2 million to help families impacted by bushfires with returning to school costs for Term 1, 2020. 3,642 students from government schools received financial assistance to support their education.
The support was available for eligible families with students in government and non-government schools from the 15 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of:
- Ararat
- Alpine
- Ballarat
- East Gippsland
- Glenelg
- Golden Plains
- Indigo
- Mansfield
- Northern Grampians
- Pyrenees
- Southern Grampians
- Towong
- Wangaratta
- Wellington
- Wodonga.
Families who were impacted were eligible to request assistance with the cost of uniforms and items including:
- school shoes
- books and stationery
- other essential items for school.
This support is being delivered via State Schools’ Relief, which has been assisting with uniforms to government school students since 1931.
For more information about State Schools’ Relief:
Non-government schools
We will provide $500,000 of Bushfire Hardship Grants to eligible non-government school students to go towards the cost of uniform items including school shoes, books, stationery and other items that kids need to use at school. Schools will help parents decide on the allocation of funding provided.
To determine eligibility, schools will be asked to:
- confirm the change of address details
- sight verification of status as CFA volunteer
- sight and endorse families’ claims for loss of livelihood or income.
The process is:
- we email schools with the information pack
- schools send information to all families inviting those impacted to apply for support
- families return the form to the school
- schools confirm eligibility of applications
- schools forward this information to us
- we provide grants to schools, which will allocate the funding to directly benefit the eligible student to contribute to the cost of back to school items. Schools will support parents to decide on the allocation of funding provided.
Students who are eligible for this support and the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) will receive both.
For more information, contact the Department of Education and Training
Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund - bushfire affected areas payment
$5 million in funding will be used to extend the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) to all eligible primary and secondary government and non-government school students living in one of the three most-affected Local Government Areas (LGAs) - Alpine, East Gippsland or Towong. The funding will provide $375 to all students in these areas.
Support will be available without means-test criteria.
Access for these 12 LGAs will be based on clear and targeted eligibility criteria:
- Ararat
- Ballarat
- Glenelg
- Golden Plains
- Indigo
- Mansfield
- Northern Grampians
- Pyrenees
- Southern Grampians
- Wangaratta
- Wellington
- Wodonga.
Eligibility criteria for the 12 LGAs
Families with students attending schools in these 12 areas will be eligible for support if they meet the following criteria:
- loss of family home
- loss of income through volunteering to fight bushfires
- loss of livelihood or income caused by bushfires.
Funding will be given directly to the school to allocate against costs for eligible students.
Trauma recovery support
$3.8 million will go towards creating a Trauma Recovery Team. The team will provide trauma response support to affected schools and kindergarten services.
Functions will include:
- training and coaching for staff
- providing evidence-based resources
- establishing ongoing support and training for professionals.
The trauma recovery team is currently supporting bushfire affected early childhood education centres and schools in Alpine, East Gippsland and Towong, and will become a standing function to support communities impacted by disasters over time.
Where the need is identified in the remaining 12 LGAs on a per-school basis, support will be provided based on clear and targeted eligibility criteria, for Term 1 and throughout 2020.
The 12 LGAs are:
- Ararat
- Ballarat
- Glenelg
- Golden Plains
- Indigo
- Mansfield
- Northern Grampians
- Pyrenees
- Southern Grampians
- Wangaratta
- Wellington
- Wodonga.
Mental health support
$4 million will provide additional allied health services staff, such as psychologists and social workers, to support impacted areas. They will support immediate and ongoing mental health recovery of school communities in the bushfire impacted LGAs of:
- Outer Gippsland
- Ovens Murray.
How funding is used will be based on local needs and other services on the ground, for example, mental health practitioners, additional Student Support Service staff, or partnerships with mental health services.
Where the need is identified in the remaining 12 LGAs on a per-school basis, support should be provided based on clear and targeted eligibility criteria and interaction with the Trauma recovery support initiative.
The 12 LGAs are:
- Ararat
- Ballarat
- Glenelg
- Golden Plains
- Indigo
- Mansfield
- Northern Grampians
- Pyrenees
- Southern Grampians
- Wangaratta
- Wellington
- Wodonga.
Financial hardship
Families may ask for support with school costs due to financial hardship. Familiarise yourself with the relevant procedures:
School closures
The regional office will be in regular contact with school principals in affected areas to ensure schools are safe and accessible.
Please note that some schools have been in use as official fire refuges or to support emergency service operations.
School bus route closures
Most school bus services in bushfire affected communities are running as normal.
Emergency procedures
If you're a principal and have concerns about your emergency procedures, contact your regional emergency management staff as listed in your emergency management plan.
Familiarise yourself with relevant emergency policies and procedures:
Water supplies
If your school is without water supply or safe drinking water, contact
emergency.management@education.vic.gov.au.
Schools in areas not affected by bushfires are advised that smoke taint is unlikely to be a health concern.
If you have any concerns, you can contact Make Safe on 1300 133 486.