There seems to be almost a daily announcement of support, grants or payments that are being offered to individuals, businesses and groups to help us through the latest lockdowns in NSW.
The hardest thing is trying to work out which one (or ones) are applicable to you and how to apply. So hopefully this “Summary” will help.
We have tried to make it as short as possible without removing too much of the important information, but there are a number of options available so it is a fairly indepth article split between payments to Individuals & those for Businesses. In this article we focus on the options available to Individuals, and the article for Businesses is also available on our Blog.
There are two payments accessible to individuals: the COVID-19 Disaster Payment; and, the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment.
You can apply for the COVID-19 Disaster Payment through your MyGov account if you have created and linked a Centrelink account. Apply for the Pandemic Leave Payment by phoning Services Australia on 180 22 66.
The COVID-19 Disaster Payment is a weekly payment available to eligible workers who can’t attend work or who have lost income because of a lockdown and don’t have access to certain paid leave entitlements. If you are a couple, both people can separately claim the payment.
Sole traders may apply for COVID-19 Disaster Payment if you are unable to operate your business from home. However, you will not be eligible if you are also receiving a state business grant such as the NSW 2021 COVID-19 Business Grant.
The disaster payment is generally 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).
However, the disaster payment will also be available:
| Area | Date of declaration | Disaster payment accessible from |
| City of Sydney, Waverley, Woollahra, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West and Randwick | 23 June 2021 | 1 July 2021 |
| Greater Sydney including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong | 26 June 2021 | 4 July 2021 |
| All of New South Wales | 18 July 2021 | |
| All of Victoria | 15 July 2021 | 23 July 2021* |
*Payment accessible from 23 July 2021 paid in arrears from 15 July 2021 (day 1 of the lockdown).
The COVID-19 disaster payment amount available depends on:
| Hours of work lost | ||
| Disaster payment amount | Between 8 and 20 hours | 20 or more |
| Weeks 2 and 3 of a lockdown* | $325 | $500 |
| From week 4 of a lockdown onwards | $375 | $600 |
* Eligible Victorians will receive the higher rate from week one of the lockdown
The payment applies to each week of lockdown you are eligible and is taxable (you will need to declare it in your income tax return).
The COVID-19 disaster payment is emergency relief. It is available if you:
And you:
A liquid assets test of $10,000 previously applied to the disaster payment but was removed from Thursday, 8 July 2021.
The Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment is for those who have been advised by their relevant health authority to self-isolate or quarantine because they:
The payment is $1,500 for each 14 day period you are advised to self-isolate or quarantine. If you are a couple, you both can claim this payment if you meet the eligibility criteria.
The Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment is available if you:
The payment is taxable and you will need to declare it in your income tax return.
If you are uncertain of your eligibility, talk to Services Australia.
If you are concerned about the impact of disaster relief payments on you, talk to us.
From 19 July 2021, the Government is enabling childcare services in NSW Local Government Areas subject to stay at home orders to waive gap-fees for parents keeping their children at home due to current COVID-19 restrictions. The gap fee is the difference between the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) the Government pays to a service and the remaining fee paid by the family.
The child-care gap fee waiver is only applicable where the childcare service opts in.
The current Local Government Areas are: Bayside, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Burwood, Camden, Campbelltown, Canada Bay, Canterbury-Bankstown, Central Coast, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Hawkesbury, Hornsby, Hunters Hill, Inner West, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Liverpool, Mosman, North Sydney, Northern Beaches, Parramatta, Penrith, Randwick, Ryde, Shellharbour, Strathfield, Sutherland Shire, Sydney, The Hills Shire, Waverley, Willoughby, Wollondilly, Wollongong and Woollahra.
The NSW Government will introduce a targeted eviction moratorium to protect residential tenants who have lost 25% of their income due to COVID-19.
Tenants who can’t pay their rent in full because they are impacted by the recent COVID-19 outbreak can’t be evicted between now and 11 September 2021.
Residential landlords who decrease rent for impacted tenants can apply for a grant of up to $1,500 or land tax reductions depending on their circumstances. The land tax relief will be equal to the value of rent reductions provided to financially distressed tenants for up to 100% of the 2021 land tax year liability.
