Assistance with funeral expenses

There are a number of one-off payments available to families of individuals who have died in the 2009 Victorian bushfires, to assist with funeral and memorial related expenses.

Compassion and bereavement payment

A Compassion and Bereavement Payment is available to provide immediate support to those families who lost family members in the 2009 Victorian bushfires. The payment provides assistance to families to help meet any immediate needs, including funeral and travel-related costs.

You are eligible for this payment if you are the next-of-kin of a person who has died in the bushfires.

There is no restriction on how the payment can be spent.

Further information is available from the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund website, or by calling 1800 180 213.

Commonwealth Government funeral/memorial payment

The Commonwealth government is providing $5000 to assist with funeral/memorial costs.

To be eligible to receive this assistance, you must be an Australian citizen or resident, and the first immediate family member (partner, child, parent, legal guardian or sibling) to make a claim in respect of an Australian who has passed away or is declared missing as a result of the bushfires.

Further information is available from the Centrelink website, or by calling 180 2211.

Victorian Government funding for funerals

In addition to the other payments available to assist those people affected by the bushfires, the Victorian Government agreed to fund the costs of all funerals for people who died in the bushfires, up to an amount of $10, 000. The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) will be administering these funeral payments on behalf of the Government.

The TAC will also continue to support those people who were injured, or the families of those who died, in transport accident related incidents in the normal way. See the factsheet titled: ‘Possible Legal Entitlements Arising from Personal Injury’.

If you would like any advice about the funerals or TAC related matters for a bushfire victim, please call the TAC on 1800 332 556 (toll-free outside Melbourne) or 1300 654 329 to talk to a trained TAC officer, or visit the TAC’s website for more information.