Emergency relief is a one-off payment to help people meet their basic needs, like food, medicine or shelter.
This support is for people who do not have access to Commonwealth income support (including SRSS, Special Benefits and Job Seeker) and who have been assessed as being in financial hardship and unable to meet their basic needs.
Your application will be assessed for all available emergency relief available in your state or territory at that time.
If eligible, payment amounts will vary according to your situation and family size.
We know you may be in a difficult situation, however this is not income support and we know the payment may not meet all your needs.
Applicants must meet all of the following:
Live in Australia
Be unable to access Commonwealth Government income support
Be applying for a protection visa, hold a temporary visa or have an uncertain visa status
Have no or very limited income, savings or community support and unable to meet their basic needs
Information and documents you need before you start
Visa details
Bank statements
If you need help with downloading a statement with a list of transactions download this document.
For your own security, do not upload a credit card statement or a bank statement that contains a credit card number.
Submitting the above information will help us process your application as quickly as possible. If we need to ask you for missing information, this will delay the process.
To start, we'll check you are eligible for Red Cross emergency relief.
If you are eligible, you will be able to apply.
Service providers can help a person to apply via the online portal.
If you are supporting someone to apply, do not use your work email address; applications must be made using the applicant’s personal email. If the client does not currently have an email address, please support them to open a new one.