Noosa Council in partnership with the Public Health Network (PHN) will allocate $60,000 from a $75,000 federal government grant to employ a social worker to assist people in the hinterland in need of support following the February flood event. The remainder of funds will be used to administer the grants program.
As part of the mental health support package for flood affected Australians announced on 9 March 2022, Noosa Council received $75,000 from the PHN to support communities to recover and build resilience.
Working with a recovery officer, expected to begin work within the next month and funded on a separate grant, the proposed social worker will be based at Pomona Community House (PCH) and occasionally at Cooroy Library, to support local mental health recovery in the hinterland which was most impacted by the weather event.
“We could see from the bushfires (in 2019) when the news passed people most impacted were only processing the event months after. This is an opportunity to try something new,” a council officer told council’s general committee meeting on Monday.
The objectives of the Community Disaster Response and Recovery Program that provided the funding was to allow communities the opportunity to choose their response to the loss, anxiety and distress experienced as a result of severe weather and flooding events; promote wellbeing and healing among community; and strengthen social connectedness and assist communities with the recovery process.
Council officers said PCH had clearly identified the need for a social worker to support Pomona and surrounding communities impacted by the flood event. The project was unanimously supported at Monday’s meeting and will be formally endorsed at Thursday’s ordinary meeting.
