COVID-19 Disaster Payment for people in NSW

• PAYMENT FOR INCOME SUPPORT RECIPIENTS – A weekly payment of $200 for eligible people on income support payments that have lost at least 8 hours work as a result of the lockdown. Claims open from 8am tomorrow, Tuesday (3 August). Eligible people need to lodge a separate claim for the COVID-19 Disaster Payment, and if eligible, it will be paid separate to their usual income support payments. After they’ve lodged their initial claim, future weekly instalments will be automatically paid until the lockdown ends. The quickest and easiest way to claim this payment is online via myGov. There’s more information on our website on this here: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/covid-19-disaster-payment-new-south-wales-if-you-get-centrelink-payment

• INCREASED PAYMENTS – Weekly payment rates will increase to $750 (for people that have lost more than 20 hours work) and $450 (between 8 hours and 20 hours) for NSW residents already receiving the COVID-19 Disaster Payment. People on recurring automatic payments do not need to do anything, they will start receiving the increased payment amount from this Thursday 5 August. There’s more information on our website on this here: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/covid-19-disaster-payment-new-south-wales-if-you-dont-get-centrelink-payment

There’s a wealth of information available on our website, including our media backgrounders on the COVID-19 Disaster Payment, which summarise the key changes to the payment along with infographic-style images available for your use: https://mediahub.servicesaustralia.gov.au/category/covid-19-disaster-payment/

Social channels, which you may wish to share with your readers:

·        https://www.facebook.com/ServicesAustralia

·        https://twitter.com/ServicesGovAU