The two-week lockdown affecting Greater Sydney residents could trigger one-off support payments for workers losing their income due to the new COVID restrictions.
Earlier this month, Scott Morrison announced a “national scheme” available to all states where a lockdown is needed for more than a week. As Greater Sydney plunges into a two-week lockdown from 6pm tonight, that qualifies them for the payment.
NSW recorded 29 new locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. This includes 17 cases which were announced on Friday morning. pic.twitter.com/78izt7RJv1
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) June 26, 2021
To be eligible, you must be aged over 17 and unable to work due to the lockdown. You must also not be receiving any other kind of support payments, like JobSeeker or Youth Allowance. A $500 payment will be available to those who normally work over 20 hours, while a $325 payment will be available to those who normally work less than 20 hours.
The payment is only available to residents located in a place declared a COVID hotspot by the federal government, which would mean those currently outside of Greater Sydney will not be eligible.
⚠️PUBLIC HEALTH ORDER⚠️
⚠️Stay at home orders extended to all of Greater Sydney, Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong
⚠️Restrictions apply to the rest of NSW pic.twitter.com/iljrIICcK7— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) June 26, 2021
The federal government launched the scheme in response to Melbourne’s recent outbreak that resulted in an extended lockdown.
“We are talking about somebody getting through the next week,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at the time.
The Morrison government was asked multiple times by Victorian Acting Premier James Merlino to implement the initiative, the Premier also slammed them for not acting quick enough for Victorians.
“We asked multiple times [for] the federal government to support workers during this period, and the unrelenting answer has been no,” Merlino said.
“Victorian workers deserve more from the federal government, and I am beyond disappointed that the answer from the Prime Minister and from the Treasurer has been not to talk in further detail about the package.
“For the Prime Minister and the federal Treasurer to say ‘no’ is a disgrace and it should make every Victorian angry.”
Today, NSW Health recorded 29 new local cases over the last 24 hours, bringing the total cases from the Bondi cluster to 82 and prompting a Sydney-wide lockdown.
Payments will be available from July 1, from the Services Australia website here.
