Cyclone Gabrielle - Welfare Support Grant
This page provides guidance to organisations wishing to make an application for a Cyclone Gabrielle Welfare Support Grant.
It includes:
- Eligibility criteria for organisations.
- Eligibility criteria for costs that can be met by a Grant.
- A list of eligible and ineligible costs.
Applications for this Grant now close on 31 August 2023.
The Cyclone Gabrielle Welfare Support Grant (“the Grant”) is a time-limited government fund. It is intended to reimburse certain emergency costs that have already been incurred by marae, iwi, and recognised community organisations (including rural groups, Pacific organisations, and ethnic service providers) to care for people who were affected, displaced, or isolated during the state of national emergency.
This Grant recognises that these organisations have used their own resources to fund their immediate response to Cyclone Gabrielle. It provides a faster alternative to the normal process of seeking reimbursement through local authorities for emergency response costs.
The National Emergency Management Agency (“NEMA”) administers the Grant on behalf of the government. Applicants will need to meet certain eligibility criteria and conditions to receive funding. Grants are usually capped at $40,000 (excl. GST), but organisations may be able to apply for a subsequent Grant after discussing their circumstances with NEMA.
To be an eligible organisation, you must meet all three of these criteria:
- You must be an authorised representative of a marae, an iwi organisation, or a recognised community group (including rural groups, Pacific organisations, and ethnic service providers).
- Your organisation must be in an area that was placed under a state of national emergency on 14 February 2023 (Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Tairāwhiti, Hawke’s Bay, and Tararua District).
- Your organisation must have actively supported displaced, isolated, or affected communities during the response to Cyclone Gabrielle, for example by providing emergency accommodation or distributing essential supplies.
Definitions
Rural groups include organisations such as rural support trusts, rural community hubs and, on a case-by-case basis, other community organisations operating in rural communities.
Pacific organisations include organisations such as Pacific church and faith-based organisations, Pacific community trusts, and not-for-profit organisations that deliver services and programmes to Pacific communities.
Ethnic service providers include organisations such as faith-based organisations, ethnic community trusts, and not-for-profit organisations that deliver services and programmes to ethnic communities.
To be eligible for a Grant, costs must meet all four of these criteria:
- Costs must have been directly incurred by the eligible organisation.
- Costs must have been incurred between 12:01 am on 14 February 2023 and the time the state of national emergency expired or was terminated for that area:
Bay of Plenty: 8:43 am, Tuesday 28 February 2023
Northland, Auckland, Waikato, and Tararua District: 7:56 am, Friday 3 March 2023
Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay: 8:43 am, Tuesday 14 March 2023
- Costs must not have already been met through another funding mechanism.
- Costs must have been incurred to meet the immediate emergency welfare needs of people affected, displaced, or isolated due to Cyclone Gabrielle; consistent with the guidelines for eligible and ineligible costs below.
Eligible costs
The following costs are covered by NEMA’s normal policy for reimbursing local authorities’ response costs. This is not an exhaustive list – similar items may also be eligible.
- Food, water, and other essential grocery items. Eligible items include everyday food and meal items, for example meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, canned goods, milk, infant foods (including feeding equipment), pet food, cereal, crisps, muesli bars and biscuits
- Sanitary and hygiene items, for example toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant, toilet paper and sanitary products
- Cleaning products, for example detergent, washing powder and disinfectant.
- Hire of plant/equipment used to prepare, store, or deliver food to address immediate welfare needs. For example, gas bottles, microwave ovens and refrigerators.
- Costs associated with packaging and delivery of eligible welfare items, including hire of equipment, fuel, and transportation costs
- Medical and first aid supplies, including:
- over-the-counter medicine (such as paracetamol)
- emergency prescription medicine.
- Clothing, blankets, and bedding for the purpose of emergency shelter.
The following costs are not covered by NEMA’s normal policy but may also be included in your Grant application. Note: NEMA may seek further information from you if these costs represent more than 20% of your total claim.
- Purchase of low value capital items used to provide or enable emergency welfare services. This includes but is not limited to items such as fridges, freezers, cookers, generators, or satellite broadband stations (such as Starlink).
- Provision of petrol or diesel to run household or small community generators to provide electricity for cooking, heating, and communication.
- Provision of petrol or diesel to enable household vehicle access to welfare services, including the collection of welfare supplies at a distribution centre.
Ineligible costs
You must not include these costs in your application. This is not an exhaustive list – NEMA reserves the right to decline funding for other non-essential or inappropriate expenditure.
- Any non-essential goods, or other costs not directly related to meeting welfare needs.
- Purchase of other capital items like vehicles or shipping containers.
- Non-welfare-related response items such as chainsaws, shovels, hand tools, gumboots, and personal protective equipment.
- Direct and indirect costs for support to the primary sector including animal feed, veterinary medicine, farm materials, fuel, and transport.
- Accommodation, food, transport, and other costs relating to staff and volunteers.
Please complete the application form electronically and send it to claims@nema.govt.nz
Applications close 31 August 2023.
Note: Only applications that are complete and submitted by eligible organisations will be considered by NEMA.
Checklist
Before you submit your application, make sure you have done all of the following:
- Read the Cyclone Gabrielle Welfare Support Grant eligibility guidelines on this page
- Completed all the information about your organisation in Section 1
- Completed all the information about your claim in Section 2
- Read and completed the declaration in Section 3
- Attached independent verification of your bank account details, showing your organisation’s name, bank name, and account number (such as a deposit slip, header of bank statement, or screenshot from internet banking)
- Attached supporting documentation for the expenditure (such as GST invoices, where available)
Published: Mar 13, 2023, 2:35 PM