Lyn Roberts is disappointed with State Government efforts to assist fire victims. 29304 Picture: Luke Plummer
By Casey Neill
A FERNTREE Gully woman has slammed a State Government pledge to help Victoria’s bush fire victims.
The Black Saturday blazes badly damaged fences and trees on the Mirboo North property Lyn Roberts inherited from her father.
Ms Roberts called the government’s Victorian Bushfire Case Management Service for help.
“I wanted someone to help me fix the fences and with the clean-up on the property,” she said.
But more than seven phone calls later, Ms Roberts had not received a case manager as promised.
“Other people are probably suffering the same sort of run-around,” she said.
“It’s just been a very frustrating situation.”
Ms Roberts was unsure if she was eligible for assistance immediately after the February fires.
“I know people in Marysville and places like that really need help,” she said.
“But I kept hearing (Premier) John Brumby say the government would help every person.”
Ms Roberts contacted the Red Cross and was redirected.
“And that went on so many times it was a bit of a joke. I nearly gave up in the end,” she said.
Ms Roberts was struggling to arrange tradesman to quote to repair her fences.
“It was a bit like getting teeth extracted,” she said.
“And I thought, ‘I do need help’.”
She contacted the government and was finally directed to the Victorian Bushfire Case Management Service.
A government fact sheet said the service would provide each fire-affected family with a case manager.
“They will help Victorians locate and access the services they need to get back on track,” it said.
Ms Roberts registered her details and was assured a case manager would contact her.
When weeks passed, she registered again – six times.
Ms Roberts then contacted Ferntree Gully MP Nick Wakeling in desperation.
Mr Wakeling raised the issue in Parliament on 1 April.
“The case management service has been publicised as the one-stop shop for those seeking assistance,” he said.
“Clearly this system has failed. Ms Roberts can only assume that she’s just been forgotten.”
A Department of Human Services spokesman said the system was built from scratch in the days following Black Saturday.
He said the Government had recruited more than 350 people for the service, and they were helping more than 4700 individuals and families.
“This is going to be a long-term and ongoing process,” he said.
“We haven’t had to confront something like this before.”
Ms Roberts finally received a phone call from a Salvation Army representative last Tuesday (7 April).
“Hopefully she might be able to get me a few fencing contractors,” she said.
The case manager directed Ms Roberts to a clean-up operation, but the group said she was ineligible because the trees and fences were not a danger to the house itself.
However, Ms Roberts said access to her land was unsafe and several unstable trees could fall onto a neighbouring property.
“I haven’t got any money to be removing trees,” she said.
Ms Roberts suggested the resource may be understaffed.
“It’s just been a saga,” she said.
“If it hadn’t gone on that long I probably wouldn’t have made a fuss.”
