The Federal Government says it will draw down on the Emergency Response Fund to inject an additional $150 million into flood-affected communities in NSW and Queensland.

Queensland and NSW will each receive $75 million to spend where it is determined it is most needed, with the flood disaster affecting at least 81 local government areas across the two states.

“The scale and magnitude of these floods is exactly the type of event that the Emergency Response Fund was designed to address,” Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience Minister Bridget McKenzie said.

The government says the spending is in addition to other government commitments, with more than $1.5 billion allocated under joint commonwealth-state disaster recovery funding arrangements and more than $923 million provided in direct payments supporting individuals and families.

The Emergency Response Fund was established in 2019 and allows the Government to access up to $200 million in any given year, beyond what is already available, to fund emergency responses and to build resilience The fund had a balance of $4.8 billion as of December 31.