Planning and building assistance rebate scheme

What is the Planning and Building Assistance Rebate Scheme?

The Scheme will support work associated with planning and building permit applications required to rebuild a home that was destroyed or severely damaged because of the 2019-20 Eastern Victorian Bushfires which commenced on 21 November 2019. This support will be provided as a rebate payment to eligible applicants.

The Scheme aims to assist people to rebuild and replace their previous home with a dwelling that complies with the appropriate bushfire planning provisions of the planning scheme to achieve longer term resilience and sustainability for communities located in these bushfire-affected areas.

Who can apply?

To be eligible for the program, you must be the owner of a dwelling that:

• Was/is in the municipalities of either East Gippsland Shire or Towong Shire
• Was destroyed or severely damaged because of the 2019-20 Eastern Victorian Fires which commenced on 21 November 2019
• Is on a site that has been registered with the relevant Bushfire Rebuild Support Service (RSS) in your municipality.

You must also be:

• Rebuilding your dwelling, either on the same property as the fire-affected dwelling or on another site within the same municipality, and a planning permit and/or building permit is required for the build.
• Able to provide the relevant mandatory supporting documentation as outlined in What supporting documents do I need to provide?

Who cannot apply?

You are not eligible to apply for the program if:

• The damage to your home was not caused directly by the 2019-20 Eastern Victorian Fires.
• Your home was not located in the municipalities of either East Gippsland or Towong Shires.
• You have already received a rebate for the same services under a different rebate scheme.

What will be funded?

The program will provide rebates for costs up to the value of $5,000 per affected property for any combination of professional services and property-based assessments and advice, required to support a planning and/or building permit application to rebuild or repair a damaged or destroyed dwelling within the subject municipalities, such as:

• preparation of a concept plan
• preparation of a planning permit application report and any related supporting technical reports, including those related to bushfire planning or hazard assessments and other environmental considerations
• land surveying, building set out, civil or structural engineering reports or equivalent
• arborist reports
• planning consultant fees
• building permit fees.

Applicants can submit multiple applications for rebates; however, the total value of your rebates will not exceed $5,000.

In addition to the above, the program also aids with geotechnical assessments with rebates for up to 80 percent of the cost of:

• a standard soil report to support an application for a Building Permit (up to a maximum of $400),

OR

• a full geotechnical assessment (up to a maximum of $2,000) to satisfy the requirements of either: the Erosion Management Overlay in the East Gippsland Planning Scheme to the satisfaction of the East Gippsland Shire Council or the Steep Land local policy of the Towong Planning Scheme for a proposed building site with slope of 20 percent or greater, to the satisfaction of the Towong Shire Council

What will not be funded?

The program will not fund the following activities:

• Any professional services or background work required to support Planning or Building Permit applications for buildings that are not capable of being legally used as a dwelling
• Any professional services required to support a regulatory requirement other than a planning permit, as required under the Planning and Environment Act 1987; or a building permit as required under the Building Act 1993 and its regulations.
• Full detailed architectural or building design documentation
• The purchase of land
• Building or repair work undertaken on site.

What supporting documents do I need to provide?

As part of your application, you will need to provide:

• evidence that you own the property (e.g. council rates notices or a title document)
• evidence of registration of your fire affected property with your council’s RSS.

• copies of tax invoices and receipts for the purchase of professional/technical services undertaken in support of your planning or building permit application/s for your new or rebuilt dwelling
• completed geotechnical assessment or soil test evidence that any geotechnical assessment has been conducted by a suitably qualified geotechnical consultant and meets the requirements of the planning scheme, to the satisfaction of the relevant council.
• bank account details where the rebate will be deposited.

How do I apply?

Applications are submitted either by you or by the  (RSS) in your municipality on your behalf via DEECA’s online portal. Options to apply via email or post are also available if required, see below for details.

If applying yourself, once you have checked you meet the criteria and have gathered all the supporting documentation, you are ready to submit your application.

You will receive an application number when you submit an application online. Please quote this number in all communications with the department relating to your application.

Supporting documents must be in an acceptable file type, such as Word, Excel, PDF or JPEG. The maximum file size for each file is 10MB.

If you have documents to submit that cannot be attached to your online application you can email them to recovery.rebates@deeca.vic.gov.au, quoting your application number. Attach all documents to one email, zipping the files if required.

Alternatively, download an application form  and post it, together with the supporting documentation, to:

Recovery Rebate Programs
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
PO Box 500
East Melbourne VIC 8002

The application deadline has been extended to 5pm 31 May 2025. Late and incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Contact us

If you have questions about the application process, contact DEECA at:

Rebate queries and offline applications

Email: recovery.rebates@deeca.vic.gov.au

Phone: 03 8622 7601

Post: Recovery Rebate Programs

Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action

PO Box 500

East Melbourne VIC 8002

Technical support for Grants Online

Email: grantsinfo@deeca.vic.gov.au

For further information about other support available to fire-affected communities, please visit the Emergency Recovery Victoria website.

Page last updated: 18/10/23