Red Cross to quicken flow of fire grants, double funding

The Red Cross will pay additional cash grants ‘within days’ amid criticism it has been too slow to pass on bushfire funds.

The Red Cross will pay additional cash grants “within days” amid criticism it has been too slow to pass on money to people facing hardship in the wake of the bushfires crisis.

The charity announced on Monday it would double its immediate bushfire grants fund from $30.5m to $61.5m.

Red Cross Australian programs director Noel Clement said the charity was already paying out about $1m a day and was looking to release further funds as soon as possible.

“Once we have all the required information and are able to assess it, we will pay within days,” he said. “There’s some pretty basic information we are asking people, but we appreciate that in the bushfires, that can be difficult for people, so we are walking people through what they need to make it as easy as possible.”

People who have lost homes and already received a $10,000 payment from the charity will be eligible for a second grant of the same value without having to reapply. The Red Cross will also provide $7500 for people who are hospitalised due to the bushfires. An additional $5000 will be distributed to repair structurally damaged homes.

Mr Clement said 1415 grants, totalling about $14m had been paid, with “a few hundred” left due to incomplete information or ­assessment checks.

“We believe there could still be 800 to 1000 properties that we have not even received applications from yet,” he said.

He said the additional cash ­relief grants were a result of an “expert panel” that met last week to recommend how to deliver the next stage of relief. The additional money will come from the Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund.

Since being set up in July last year, the fund has raised $127m. About $120m of that was donated ­between December 30 and January 29 — when the bushfire crisis was at its peak — and Mr Clement said it was evident the charity needed to dedicate those funds to the disaster.

“What has happened on this occasion is even though we didn’t launch a specific bushfire appeal, it became clear to us in the first week of January that people were giving to us much more significantly because of the current bushfire,” he said.

“We have publicly committed to go further than the fund’s ­intent and specifically tie it to these events.”