Scott Morrison announces expansion of COVID-19 payment for third week of lockdowns, liquid asset test waived

The Prime Minister has announced that the $10,000 liquid asset test is being waived in respect of the COVID-19 Disaster Payment from Services Australia.

To get the payment, you must be eligible for under both the General Eligibility Rules and the NSW Eligibility Rules:

General Eligibility Rules:

To get the COVID-19 Disaster Payment you must meet all of the following:

• you're an Australian resident or hold an eligible working visa
• you're 17 years or older
• you don't get an income support payment, the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment, a state or territory pandemic payment or a state small business payment for the same period
• you live or work in a Commonwealth-declared COVID-19 hotspot
• you had paid employment and because of a COVID-19 lockdown, hotspot or period of restricted movement you can't attend work on or after day 8
• you've lost income on or after day 8 and don't have any appropriate paid leave entitlements

NSW eligibility rules:

If you live or work in NSW, you need to meet some specific eligibility rules to get the COVID- 19 Disaster Payment. You'll also need to meet all the general rules. You may get this payment if you lost income or work due to COVID-19 and you meet all the eligibility rules above. These are the general eligibility rules as well as any rules for the recognised event in NSW that affected you. Recognised events are COVID-19 lockdowns, hotspots or periods of restricted movement that last longer than 7 days.

Recognised NSW COVID-19 events:

Parts of Sydney locked down from 23 June 2021

• City of Sydney
• Waverley
• Woollahra
• Bayside
• Canada Bay
• Inner West
• Randwick

Greater Sydney Local Government Areas from 26 June 2021

• Blacktown
• Blue Mountains
• Burwood
• Camden
• Campbelltown
• Canterbury-Bankstown
• Central Coast
• Cumberland
• Fairfield
• Georges River
• Hawkesbury
• Hornsby
• Hunters Hill
• Ku-ring-gai
• Lane Cove
• Liverpool
• Mosman
• North Sydney
• Northern Beaches
• Parramatta
• Penrith
• Ryde
• Shellharbour
• Strathfield
• Sutherland
• The Hills
• Willoughby
• Wollondilly
• Wollongong

How much are the payments:

If you lost less than 20 hours work, you'll get $325 for each recognised event, if you're eligible.

If you lost 20 hours or more of work, you'll get $500 for each recognised event, if you're eligible.

The COVID-19 Disaster Payment is a taxable payment. This means you'll need to include it in your income tax return.

How do you apply for the payment:

To apply, you need to use your myGov account to which you can link a Centrelink online account (if you have not already).

Once you log into Centrelink, you will need to answer a series of questions to determine your eligibility to claim the payment.

If eligible, your claim will be submitted and you will receive a notification via text or email that your claim has been successfully submitted.

Payments are being rapidly paid on the same day as the claim.

You will need to reapply weekly for the $500 or $325 claim through Centrelink.

We understand that this is an incredibly stressful time. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us.