Being prepared for a natural disaster
Know your risks
It’s important to be aware of any potential risks where you live. You should have a good knowledge of the:
- climate where you live
- weather warnings for your area
- history of natural disasters in your area
- terrain of your property and local area.
Find out more about knowing your weather risks on the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) website.
Have an emergency plan
It’s hard to make decisions during an emergency. By creating an emergency plan in advance, you can help to protect you and your loved ones.
There are resources available to help you make an emergency plan. These links will take you away from myGov.
Keep up to date
It’s important to keep up to date with current natural disasters so you know if you need to take action. You can do this by:
- listening to your local radio station
- watching or reading the news
- checking the BOM website.
State and territory resources
You can find community advice in your area on your state or territory’s emergency websites. These links will take you away from myGov.
| State or territory | Resource |
|---|---|
ACT |
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NSW |
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NT |
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Qld |
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SA |
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Tas |
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Vic |
|
WA |
Get your information ready
There are things you can do now to get ready in case you need to claim an Australian Government disaster payment. To claim a payment for a declared natural disaster with Services Australia, you’ll need to have a myGov account with Centrelink linked.
Follow the steps to create a myGov account. After you’ve created one, you can link Centrelink.
Help signing in to your myGov account
If you are having trouble signing in to your myGov account, we have instructions to help.
These include if you have forgotten your password or if your account is locked.