Cindy Lucas, of Mudgegonga, said farmers missed out on money donated to the Red Cross following Black Saturday because the charity by law cannot provide assistance to businesses.

She fears the same thing will happen again with the Red Cross Victorian Floods Appeal supporting only individuals, families and communities.

“People need to be aware there are other alternatives than just the Red Cross and they’re very restricted in who they can provide assistance to,” said Ms Lucas, who lost part of her cattle farm in the 2009 bushfires.

“Farmers affected by Black Saturday did not receive any money from the Red Cross.

“What assistance did come to farmers came through other avenues such as Rotary.”

The Victorian National Party says the Red Cross is constrained by a federal law which prevents it from distributing funds to businesses in order to retain its charitable status.

Party leader and Deputy Premier Peter Ryan wrote to the Federal Government in April, 2009 asking for the law to be changed after Black Saturday, and has made the request again in the wake of the floods.

The Coalition government has, however, this month donated $1 million to the Red Cross floods appeal.

A spokesman for the government said the appeal reached the maximum number of Victorians in a “transparent” and “accountable” way.

“The appeal needed money urgently and the government was in the position to provide that money,” he said.

Member for Benalla Bill Sykes said he also had concerns about the laws governing the Red Cross which he raised during the bushfires.

“The state government, both the previous one and ourselves, have in part addressed the problem by having grants available to farmers and businesses,” he said.

“So there are some offsets but there is an underlying issue there that needs resolving.”