Recovery and preparedness resources

Flood water in residential street

Access resources to help you prepare for or recover from a flood event.

Recovery network and committee

Join the Recovery Network

The Maribyrnong Neighbourhood Flood Network is a group of locals who share clear, practical information about flood risk and preparedness with their neighbours. They work to bring community voices to emergency management planning.

The Network are working together on preparedness tools and resources as well as social connection activities for their neighbourhoods.

Their four priorities are:

  1. Community voices are heard by emergency response agencies and shape emergency planning

  2. Emergency flood information is shared by the community, for the community

  3. Maribyrnong preparedness increases

  4. Maribyrnong social connection increases

Over the coming months, the network leaders will be seeking your feedback on the draft Maribyrnong Community Flood Plan. This community-owned plan will be shared with emergency services to bring community voices into emergency management planning.

Join the Neighbourhood Flood Network

Express your interest by:

Maribyrnong-Neighbourhood-Flood-Network-Graphic-Recording-SML-2.jpg

 

Community Recovery Committee

Expressions of Interest for committee members

The Maribyrnong Community Recovery Committee (CRC) was established to enable a community-led approach to recovery, provide advice to Council on recovery issues and help identify community needs.

The CRC tenure has been extended until the end of December 2025. In line with this, we are seeking expressions of interest for community representatives and the Independent Chair position.

Community representatives provide guidance and advice on community needs and co-design programs and projects to support recovery, while the Independent Chair is a paid position to facilitate meetings and guide the direction of the recovery program. 

To apply as a community representative, visit this page: Community Recovery Committee Expression of Interest.

Applications for community representatives will remain open throughout the year, however you are encouraged to apply before 16 July 2025 to be part of this round of assessments.

To apply for the Independant Chair position, please send your resume and a brief cover letter detailing your relevant experience to Nicole O'Donnell, Manager Emergency Management and Regulatory Services at Nicole.ODonnell@maribyrnong.vic.gov.au by 4pm on 4 July 2025 (extended from 27 June).

The CRC Terms of Reference can be found here: Maribyrnong Community Recovery Committee Terms of Reference - May(PDF, 323KB).

For enquiries, please contact floodrecovery@maribyrnong.vic.gov.au.

 

CRC Representatives

You are welcome to speak with your CRC representatives at any point to raise questions or ideas relating to recovery. The CRC community representatives are:

  • Andrew Monteiro

  • Mary Cameron

  • Mike Caridi

  • Paul Larsen.

For more information on the Community Recovery Committee, please email floodrecovery@maribyrnong.vic.gov.au or call Council on 9688 0200 and request to speak with a member of the Flood Recovery team.

CRC meeting minutes

At the November 2024 CRC meeting, members agreed to publish the meeting minutes online moving forward. Minutes can be found below:

 

Resources

Property Flood Risk Cards

The Victorian State Emergency Service (VICSES), Melbourne Water and Maribyrnong City Council are partnering to provide property flood risk cards to the community in Maribyrnong.

Property cards will be specific to each property and include information on a property’s flood risk, flood levels, and where to go for further information.

This information is designed to help residents understand their flood risk. The information provided in the cards indicates the forecast river flood height (which is provided in flood warnings) that flood waters are expected to reach resident properties.    

Residents in high riverine flood risk areas in the Maribyrnong township will receive a card. These are areas that experience waterway flooding from the Maribyrnong River in flood events that have a 1% chance of occurring in any given year. This is also known as a 1% Annual Exceedance Probability (1% AEP).   

For more information and responses to frequently asked questions about the cards and measurements, download the Property Flood Risk Cards Q&A(PDF, 196KB).

When were the cards distributed? 

The property flood risk cards were distributed via a door knock by volunteers from the SES and Council staff during August and September 2025. If you were not home, you should have received a postcard in your mailbox with the details to book a follow up appointment for your household, neighbours or community group.

A community BBQ was also held at Burton Crescent Reserve on Sunday 21 September for residents to receive the cards and ask further questions about the pack.

How to collect your pack or ask follow-up questions

If you haven't received your pack, you can still request this from council.

Please complete and return your postcard via mail or email emergencymanagement@maribyrnong.vic.gov.au to schedule to receive your pack at a time that suits you.

Alternatively, connect with your local network leaders to arrange collection.
 
Whether you are new to Maribyrnong or a long-term resident, this information is important for you. For more information, email emergencymanagement@maribyrnong.vic.gov.au
 

Will they be available in other languages? 

Cards will be made available in other languages upon request.  

I have questions about the measurements on my card - who can I talk to about this?

Please contact the Melbourne Water call centre by emailing enquiry@melbournewater.com.au or calling 131 722 to discuss your individual property card. Please advise the below details and someone will call you back to discuss your individual property details:

  • Your name
  • Property address
  • Phone number or email address
  • Data query.

For more information on flood risk and how to be prepared, visit:

Flood insurance guide, advocacy and webinar: online recording

Council has partnered with GenWest and the Community Recovery Committee on the Maribyrnong Insurance Project to make insurance information more accessible to the community. 

A needs assessment delivered with an intersectional lens was undertaken and included community conversations in both English and Vietnamese. The needs assessment phase of the project identified the need for a clear, accessible guide containing expert insurance information as well as insights from the Maribyrnong community about what they wish they knew before the October 2022 flood. This led to delivery of the following initiatives. 

The Flood Insurance Guide

The guide was delivered in collaboration with flood-impacted community and features content from legal, financial and recovery experts, as well as tips for mental health and wellbeing during the aftermath of a flood. It offers practical information, making it easier for residents to understand the reasons for taking out insurance, how to make a claim and the complaint process.

The following organisations were involved in the project:

  • Cohealth
  • Consumer Action Law Centre
  • Disaster Legal Help Victoria
  • Financial Counselling Victoria
  • GenWest
  • The Red Cross
  • West Justice. 

Visit this page to access the guide in both English and Vietnamese: Maribyrnong Insurance Project - Maribyrnong. 

Information-sharing through different formats

The needs assessment also highlighted the need for both face-to-face and online information sharing opportunities. This led to:

  • A Q&A session at the launch of the insurance project, featuring panelists from Financial Counselling Victoria, Consumer Action Law Centre and WestJustice.
  • An online webinar and Q&A featuring panelists from the Insurance Council of Australia, WestJustice and Financial Counselling Victoria (see below recording)

Advocacy

Finally, the range of stories shared by community through the needs assessment highlighted some critical gaps and challenges in the insurance system. These stories informed Council's advocacy position on insurance. You can read more about the advocacy priorities here: Maribyrnong Flood Recovery and Prevention - Maribyrnong. 

 

General recovery and wellbeing support

Flood Recovery Hotline

Emergency Recovery Victoria is still offering help to flood impacted communities across Victoria

Call 1800 560 760 for support with

  • repairs
  • accommodation
  • financial support
  • mental health support

The hotline is answered between 8:30am and 5:00pm, Monday to Friday

For further information visit the Emergency Recovery Victoria webpage. 

My Mental Health - services, directory and online support

Help and support is available to maintain mental health and wellbeing and includes local services and resources in a number of languages visit:  My Mental Health

 Head to Health

Access free mental health resources and services at Head to Health or to speak to a trained mental health professional contact 1800 595 212

Services supporting the community:

  • Lifeline: call 13 11 14, 24 hours, seven days a week or visit lifeline.org.au
  • 1800 RESPECT: call 1800 737 732, 24 hours seven days a week or visit 1800respect.org.au
  • Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre: call 1800 015 188, 24 hours, seven days a week, or visit safesteps.org.au
  • GenWest: call 1800 436 937, email info@genwest.org.au or visit genwest.org.au
  • InTouch Multicultural Centre against Family Violence: call 1800 755 988, or visit intouch.org.au
  • Djirra, support for Aboriginal people, call 1800 105 303, or visit djirra.org.au
  • MensLine Australia: call 1300 789 978 or visit mensline.org.au
  • Seniors Rights Victoria: call 1300 368 821, or visit seniorsrights.org.au
  • Kids helpline (services for young people aged 5 to 25): call 1800 551 800, 24 hours seven days a week or visit kidshelpline.com.au

Resources for young people

Business Support

Mentors are available to guide Business owners through other support available and help manage insurance and landlord issues, assess impacts and form strategies for recovery.

For more information visit the Business Victoria website.

Free, confidential, mental health and wellbeing support is also available.  For more information visit the Partners in Wellbeing website or phone 1300 375 330.

Insurance support 

For information on insurance recovery and claims process visit https://insurancecouncil.com.au/resource/insurance-recovery-process/

Community Recovery Services Guide

For more information on recovery support available, visit the Community Recovery Services Guide(PDF, 468KB).

 

 

 

Back to top