12th July 2021
We have touched on some of these support payments in our post last week however with the evolving lockdown situation in NSW we are endeavouring to keep our clients up to date with the latest news regarding any COVID-related government support.
Personal Support
1. COVID-19 Disaster Payment The COVID-19 disaster payment is available to eligible workers who:
- Can’t attend work or who have lost income because of a lockdown and
- Don’t have access to appropriate paid leave entitlements.
The payment only applies from the eighth day of lockdown. That is, there is nothing you can claim for the first week of a lockdown.
The payment amount depends on how many hours of work you have lost in the lockdown period (week).
| Hours lost | Amount |
| Less than 20 hours | $325 |
| 20+ hours | $500 |
Applications for the Disaster Payment need to be made weekly.
The payment is available if you are not earning an income or have lost work and you:
- Are an Australian citizen, permanent resident or temporary visa holder who has the right to work in Australia, and
- Are aged 17 years or over, and
- Can’t attend work and lost income on or after day 8 of a COVID-19 lockdown, and
- Don’t have access to appropriate paid leave entitlements through your employer (other than annual leave), and
- Are not getting an income support payment, a state or territory pandemic payment, Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment or state small business payment for the same period.
Until recently, a liquid assets test applied that meant that if you had more than $10,000, you could not receive the payment. However, the Prime Minister has stated that this test will be lifted from Thursday, 8 July 2021.
The Disaster Payment is only accessible if the hotspot triggering the lockdown lasts more than 7 days as declared by the Chief Medical Officer (you can find the listing here.)
To claim the Disaster Payment, log into your MyGov account, which needs to be linked to your Centrelink Online account. This video helps to explain the process and eligibility.
2. Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment
The Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment of $1,500 for each 14 day period is for those who have been advised by the health authorities to self-isolate or quarantine because:
- You have coronavirus (COVID-19)
- You’ve been in close contact with a person who has COVID-19
- You care for a child, 16 years or under, who has COVID-19
- You care for a child, 16 years or under, who’s been in close contact with a person who has COVID-19.
The payment might also be accessible if you are a carer for someone impacted.
Eligibility for this disaster payment is very similar to the Disaster Payment except that you need to use any appropriate leave entitlements if it is available to you (for example, pandemic sick leave, personal leave or carer leave).
More information for each State can be found on Service Australia’s website. Click on your state for your relevant information.
Support for Business
As we reported last week, the NSW Government has announced new grants of up to $10,000 for businesses adversely impacted by the recent COVID-19 lockdowns. Eligibility for the grant is streamed into General Business, and Hospitality & Tourism.
The value of the grant is determined by the impact of the lockdown on your turnover. To apply, businesses will need to compare their turnover over for a minimum two-week period after lockdown commenced, to a minimum two-week period in June and/or July 2019. We do not yet have an alternative test period for businesses that were not operating in June/July 2019 but will be in touch as soon as we do.
| Turnover Decline | Grant |
| 70%+ | $10,000 |
| 50% to <70% | $7,000 |
| 30% to <50% | $5,000 |
The General Business grant is limited to businesses (including sole traders) with:
- A NSW registered ABN or able to demonstrate they are physically located and primarily operating in NSW; and
- Annual turnover of more than $75,000 for the year ending 30 June 2020; but
- Below the NSW Government 2020-21 payroll tax threshold of $1.2m as at 1 July 2020; with
- Fewer than 20 full-time equivalent employees
The Hospitality & Tourism COVID-19 Support grant is limited to tourism or hospitality businesses with:
- A NSW registered ABN or able to demonstrate they are physically located and primarily operating in NSW; and
- Annual turnover of more than $75,000 for the year ending 30 June 2020; and
- An annual Australian wages bill below $10m as at 1 July 2020.
Applications for the grant open in late July.
We will continue to be in touch as more details come to hand. Meanwhile, we hope you stay healthy and safe.
