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A surge of legal help in the Far West after power outage

7 November 2024

Mel, Liz, Mal and Donna stand smiling in front of a Legal Aid NSW Disaster Response Legal Service banner Mel Townsend, DRLS community engagement officer and Liz Lehmann, DRLS senior solicitor with Mal Lanyon, CEO NSW Reconstruction Authority and Donna Argus, Director, Regional Delivery, Riverina Murray, NSW Reconstruction Authority at the Broken Hill RAP.

The Disaster Response Legal Service (DRLS) has been out in Broken Hill and the Far West throughout October and November, providing free legal help to communities impacted by the severe electrical outage on 17 October 2024, caused by a major storm.

DRLS senior solicitor Liz Lehmann and community engagement officer Mel Townsend, as well as Sophie Townsend from the Legal Aid NSW Broken Hill office, have been working closely with the NSW Reconstruction Authority at the Broken Hill Recovery Access Point and outreach hub in Wilcannia. Liz, Mel and Sophie have also partnered with Service NSW, Catholic Care Financial Counselling Service, and the Red Cross to provide wraparound services at these one-stop-shops.

The main legal issues Liz has been seeing on the ground include insurance questions about food and medicine spoilage and damaged appliances, financial hardship and access to government grants.

Liz also appeared twice on ABC local radio to spread the word of how to access free legal services: ABC Radio Broken Hill-Legal Aid NSW Liz Lehmann 6/11/24

A woman smiles in the foreground of a radio studio as she takes a selfie of herself and two others who are smiling across the desk from her. On the desk is stuff associated witha radio studio such as microphones, headphones and mixing desks. Liz takes a selfie from the ABC radio studios in Broken Hill

Do you have insurance and lost food or medicine during the power outage in Broken Hill? Are you unsure if you should make a claim? We are seeing lots of people who have questions about whether they need to pay excess and if it is worth lodging a claim. Whether you need to pay excess depends on the wording of your insurance policy. Under some policies, no excess applies. And even where excess does apply, in some cases you may be able to ask your Insurer to consider your special circumstances. Our advice is to check your policy and if you have any questions,  we can help! 

If you need legal help after the power outage, visit our ‘How we can help’ section of our website or call the DRLS hotline on 1800 801 529. To locate a recovery centre near you visit the Service NSW recovery centre finder.

For more information about the Power Outage Support Grant – see the Service NSW page.