Australian Government Changes to Income Support Payments for Individuals Effected by the Coronavirus Pandemic
The Australian Government’s stimulus packages include measures to provide support to those Australians whose employment has been negatively impacted by the Coronavirus Pandemic. We have outlined below the main elements of these measures which will apply over the next 6 months.
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Sole traders and self-employed eligible for JobSeeker payment and Youth Allowance.
The eligibility criteria to access income support payments will be relaxed to where you’re:
- a permanent employee who has been stood down or lost your job
- a sole trader, self-employed, a casual or contract worker whose income has reduced
- caring for someone who’s affected by coronavirus.
Centrelink will waive asset testing from 27th April 2020 for 6 months although income testing will still apply. The usual waiting periods for these payments have also been waived and Centrelink are applying additional resources to process all applications as fast as possible.
Please note that you can’t access employer entitlements, such as annual leave or sick leave, or income protection insurance at the same time as getting JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance for job seekers.
What you need to do:
- If you meet one of the eligibility criteria above, you should contact Centrelink to discuss and lodge your application for support as soon as possible.
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Temporary Coronavirus Supplement
For the next 6 months the Government is introducing a new Coronavirus supplement to be paid at a rate of $550 per fortnight. This supplement will be in paid to both existing and new recipients of the eligible payment categories and is in addition to the regular amounts paid.
This supplement will automatically be paid from 27th April 2020 to individuals receiving the following payments:
- JobSeeker Payment
- Youth Allowance for job seekers
- Youth Allowance for students
- Austudy for students
- ABSTUDY for students
- Parenting Payment
- Farm Household Allowance
- Special Benefit.
What you need to do:
- If you are already receiving one of the payments listed above, you do not need to do anything. Centrelink will automatically add the supplement to your regular fortnightly payment.
- If you are not yet receiving one of these payments but are eligible you should submit your application ASAP via myGov using a Centrelink Online account or by calling Centrelink.
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Two rounds of One-off stimulus payments of $750
The Government will provide two separate tax free one-off payments of $750 to recipients of certain income support payments.
The first one-off payment of $750 will be made from 31st March 2020 with most recipients receiving it by 17th April 2020. This payment will be automatically paid to those individuals receiving the certain payments between 12th March 2020 and 13th April 2020 or those holding certain concession cards. A full list of the eligible payments and cards can be found on the Centrelink website here
The second one-off payment of $750 will be made from 13th July 2020 if, on the 10th July 2020, you are eligible for any of the payments or concession cards that were eligible for the first one-off payment mentioned above.
However, this second one-off payment will not be paid to anyone receiving the Coronavirus Supplement mentioned previously.
What you need to do:
- If you are already receiving one of the eligible payments, you do not need to do anything. Centrelink will automatically pay the relevant one-off payments to you in April 2020 and July 2020.
- If you are not yet receiving one of these payments but are eligible you should submit your application ASAP via myGov using a Centrelink Online account or by calling Centrelink.