COVID-19: DISASTER PAYMENT TO BE PHASED OUT

The Commonwealth COVID-19 Disaster Payment will be phased out as a state or territory reaches certain vaccination targets.

Under current arrangements, eligible recipients would receive $750 per week if they lost over 20 hours of work, $450 per week if they lost between 8 and 20 hours and $200 per week for those on income support payments who lost over 8 hours of work.

The payment will begin to transition once a state or territory reaches 70% full vaccination of its population (16 years and older), in line with the movement into Phase B of the National Plan agreed to at National Cabinet.

Once a state or territory reaches 70% full vaccination, the automatic renewal of the temporary payment will end and individuals will have to reapply each week that a Commonwealth Hotspot remains in place to confirm their eligibility.

In line with the movement into Phase C of the National Plan, where a Commonwealth Hotspot remains in place and a state or territory reaches 80% full vaccination of its population (16 years and older), the temporary payment will step down over a period of 2 weeks before ending.

In the first week after a state or territory has reached 80% vaccination there will be a flat payment of $450 for those who have lost more than 8 hours of work, while those on income support will receive $100.

In the second week, the payment will be bought into line with JobSeeker at $320 for the week for those who have lost more than 8 hours of work, while the payment will end for those on income support.

For those who have not already returned to the workforce following the end of the temporary payment as the economy opens up, the social security system will support eligible individuals back into work.

The government will leave in place the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment until 30 June 2022.