Indonesia Disaster Response 2004 Fund

On 9 September 2004, a bomb was detonated in the Kuningan area of Jakarta, killing 10 people and injuring over 200. Responding to this tragedy, Australia's Prime Minister, the Hon. John Howard MP, announced that Australia would provide A$1 million to establish the Indonesia Disaster Response 2004 Fund. The fund aims to help Indonesian victims and their families recover from the effects of the bombing. Australia is partnering with Indonesian NGOs and community-based organisations, international NGOs and Indonesia's national and provincial governments to implement this assistance.

The fund supports programs in four key areas:

• Family assistance (including financial and livelihood support)
• Trauma counselling
• Specialist surgical and medical treatment
• Long term capacity building in disaster response

Family assistance

The Australian Government is working in partnership with the Australian Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and `Aisyiyah to provide assistance directly to Indonesian families affected by the bombing. Our family assistance program consists of both immediate assistance and longer term support for those most affected by the bombing. This assistance is being delivered through `Aisyiyah.

Our short term assistance helps meet the needs of victims and their families in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. Short term support may include assistance with daily living costs where income has been lost as a direct result of the bombing; travel costs to and from hospital for family members; funeral costs; and other special needs.

In addition to short term assistance, Australia will provide longer term support for those Indonesian families that have lost a loved one and for victims seriously injured who are unable to return immediately to their previous employment. The level and type of assistance to be provided will be based on an individual assessment of the needs of victims and their families. These assessments are being undertaken by `Aisyiyah in collaboration with our local and international partners.

The family assistance program represents the largest component of the Fund.

Trauma counselling

Australia is also supporting trauma counselling and other psycho-social services for Indonesian victims, their families and others in the community affected by the Kuningan bomb. This assistance will help those directly impacted to cope with and recover from the effects of the bombing.

Our trauma counselling program is being coordinated by the International Medical Corps and is being implemented on the ground by Yayasan Pulih. It comprises needs assessment, trauma counselling, support for natural coping methods and a range of psychological and psychiatric services to those requiring further assistance.

Specialist surgical and medical treatment

The Government of Indonesia has announced a special program to provide free medical care to Indonesian victims of the Kuningan blast who are not covered by private health insurance. The Government has confirmed this commitment will cover the following for victims of the Kuningan bombing:

• All costs for the first week of hospitalisation
• Costs up to class 2 (MMC level) for the second week of hospitalisation and beyond (this is a special exception to the normal rate of class 3 treatment)
• Outpatient care for a minimum of one month after the date of discharge from hospital and further determine services will be provided on as a need basis.
• All psychiatric care that falls in the categories above

Australia commends the Government of Indonesia for the assistance it is providing to assist victims meet their medical costs. Australian assistance in the area of medical treatment aims to complement what is already being provided by the Government of Indonesia. Australia has therefore committed to meet all approved medical costs for victims of the Kunginan bomb which are not covered by the Government of Indonesia. This may include, for example, more specialised treatment such as advice from Australian specialists on seriously injured victims and surgery and rehabilitation needs for patients evacuated to Australia and Singapore.

Long term capacity building

Australia recognises that it is vital to support organisations involved in disaster response within Indonesia and help them build their own capacity to respond to emergencies. Australia will therefore work with local organisations and government bodies to strengthen their response capacities, particularly in relation to urban disasters such as the Kuningan bombing.

Limited funding from within the Indonesia Disaster Response 2004 Fund will be made available to begin longer term capacity building of this type. The shape of this assistance will be determined based on the needs of local organisations and may include areas such as emergency contingency planning, inter-agency coordination, and building skills in identified areas of need.

This assistance will complement capacity building provided under Australia's broader program of emergency and humanitarian assistance in Indonesia.

This page was last updated on 1 December 2004

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