The Victorian government has struck a deal with accommodation website Airbnb to provide free shelter for people displaced by disasters such as fires and floods.
The agreement, the first of its kind in Australia, follows a similar arrangement provided by Airbnb in the US, where 1,400 of its New York members opened their homes for free to those hit by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Airbnb, an online service that allows people to list their rooms or entire properties for rent to travellers, has about 4,000 hosts in Victoria.
It is hoped the majority of these will sign up to offer free accommodation to those displaced by disasters. A new website will be set up to allow the rest of the public to sign up and offer emergency accommodation. The service will be also be open to emergency workers and volunteers.
Airbnb hosts will be notified of emergencies in their vicinity and given educational materials on disaster preparedness.
The Black Saturday fires in 2009 left about 7,000 people homeless, many of whom struggled to find accommodation.
In February the number of Morwell residents fleeing the Hazelwood coal mine fire prompted the Victorian government to ask people to open up their homes. Premier Denis Napthine offered up his own Port Fairy holiday home to evacuees.
Sam McDonagh., the head of Airbnb in Australia, said he expected a positive response after similar arrangements succeeded in New York, San Diego and London.
“This partnership is a good thing for Victoria because it formalises what is being done already – to help others out when they need it,” he said.
Kim Wells, Victoria’s emergency services minister, said the service would not replace any of the existing government aid to those displaced by disasters.
Victorians are provided emergency relief assistance payments of up to $500 per adult and $250 per child to cover urgent accommodation, food and clothing needs. A further $31,050 is available per household to clean up and repair a damaged home or to live elsewhere while this is happening.
“We have our fair share of natural disasters in Victoria and while we’re doing very well at putting out fires, the next stage of the recovery can be difficult,” Wells said.
“The Airbnb website is secure, it’s safe, it’s a popular way of doing this. It worked very well in New York. There is some hesitation among some people [about offering accommodation] but this website provides checks. It’s a process that’s ad hoc at the moment but this is something that will formalise the process.”
