Following the release of the Auditor-General’s Relief and Recovery Funding for the 2022 Floods report, Ms Lovell has called on the government to speed up approvals on outstanding claims.
The report found the government took an average of 214 days to approve flood-related claims, with average processing times hitting a peak of 429 days at one stage.
Councils can make claims for reimbursement of the cost of relief and recovery activities following a natural disaster.
They can also submit certified cost estimates for funding approval when they need to reconstruct damaged public assets, like roads and bridges.
For certified estimates, approval is necessary before the works can start.
“Rural and regional councils face tight budget constraints, and desperately need prompt payment,” Ms Lovell said.
“The state government must speed up the processing and approval of outstanding flood recovery funding claims and certified estimates.”
Three years after the 2022 floods, there were 44 flood-related claims still in progress, and 33 certified estimates waiting to be approved.
Ms Lovell called on the Minister for Natural Disaster Recovery, Vicki Ward, to expedite the processing and approval of outstanding claims and confirm by what date they will be completed.
According to the report, $1.66 billion in Treasurer’s Advance funding was spent on the 2022 flood recovery by June 2023, coming from both state and federal governments.
“But not all Treasurer’s Advance requests included documentation showing they were financially sound or could not have been funded elsewhere,” the report said.
“The treasurer approved recovery funding quickly, despite not all department requests meeting Treasurer's Advance requirements.”
As some government departments did not provide enough evidence to support their Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements claims, the Victorian government may miss out on federal funding.
While Emergency Recovery Victoria and the Department of Transport improved their claim processing times gradually, the report found the departments could not show they met their timeliness benchmarks.
Over $77 million in claims and $66 million in certified estimates were approved between both departments by April this year.
The report made four recommendations, which the relevant agencies have accepted in full or in principle.
To read the full report, visit www.audit.vic.gov.au
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