$64,000 emergency relief boost for Jewish House

The federal government will provide almost $64,000 in additional emergency relief funding to Jewish House following increased demand for services after the Bondi Beach terror attack.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek visited Jewish House in Bondi on Wednesday to announce the funding boost, saying it would ensure the organisation could meet demand for emergency relief assistance and continue to support Jewish residents in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

“Jewish House has supported Sydney’s Jewish residents and the broader community for decades, and this investment means they can continue to stand with Sydneysiders when it is needed most,” she said.

“We’re proud to boost their vital service so that they can continue to deliver for the community.”

Jewish House CEO Rabbi Mendel Kastel said the organisation had been supporting hundreds of people since the December 14 attack. “There’s been a huge demand for services,” he told The AJN.

“Whether it’s early stages supporting families and funerals to later supporting people in hospitals with their recovery and a lot of financial relief aspects as well — people who’ve been struggling with not being able to work, being too overwhelmed and therefore struggling to be able to make ends meet and pay their bills or pay their rent.”

Kastel said the emergency relief funding would help people with once-off expenses they were experiencing. “We’re very grateful to Tanya and the government for reaching out and saying, in mind of what’s happened in Bondi, we recognise that there’ll be more demand, which there is, and therefore have made extra money available,” he said.

Jewish House has been supporting people it categorises as primary victims — those who were at Archer Park — secondary victims who were around the beach, and general community members affected by the attack. “It’s really hit our community hard, and we’re here supporting people across the board,” Kastel said.

“We have different fundings for different groups of people, but trying to do whatever we can to make life a bit easier. The government has come to the table, both at a state and federal level, to support us in supporting the community, together with Jewish Care and others.”

Kastel said needs for psychological and trauma support continued, with the challenge being that triggers could bring people back to the traumatic experience unexpectedly. “We want to make sure that people are supported and safe and we check in with them regularly, and those who need more professional, intense support get it,” he said.