NSW Bushfire Clean-up Program

This program aims to provide free of charge clean-up assistance for New South Wales residences and businesses impacted by the 2019-20 bushfires. It focuses on safety hazards and issues that could impede people rebuilding their homes.

The clean-up of bushfire-impacted properties may include:
- Removal of known hazardous materials, including asbestos.
- Removal of materials destroyed by bushfire, and hazardous trees near the destroyed or damaged primary residence or business premises.
- Removal of damaged driveways that could impact on the safety of the clean-up.
- With the consent of the building owners, removal of concrete slab foundations.

The NSW Government will cover the full clean-up cost for insured and uninsured eligible property owners. This includes properties that are used as residences, or for small business or primary production.

Testing will be initially carried out on all properties to ensure communities are not exposed to contamination, and workers are not exposed to any hazardous materials.

The government-supported clean-up is an opt-in program which means residents and business owners must register their properties before they can be included in the clean-up program.

Eligible applicants include insured and uninsured owners of properties in NSW used for residential, small business or primary production purposes that were destroyed by bush fire after 1 July 2019.

The clean-up costs of outbuildings that are uninhabitable or unusable that are located within the vicinity of a primary residence or business operation are covered.

The clean-up costs of septic tanks are not covered unless they present a safety issue.

Work will be undertaken simultaneously on the North Coast, South Coast, Snowy Monaro, Snowy Valleys and other impacted communities across the State.

The main assessment criteria include:
- Properties where there is safe access to affected areas, including no ongoing fire events.
- Properties with known hazardous materials, particularly those close to neighbours or vulnerable community facilities (e.g. schools, hospitals and town centres).
- Where there is a strong community need and property owners have registered and given permission for works to be conducted on private property.
- Availability of demolition contractors to conduct the works.
- Availability of landfill for disposal of debris.