Eligible people who reside or work in seven Commonwealth declared COVID-19 hotspot Local Government Areas across Sydney and have lost their income due to the state imposed health restrictions can now claim the COVID-19 Disaster Payment.
Claims can be lodged now for people who reside or work in City of Sydney, Waverley, Randwick, Canada Bay, Inner West, Bayside and Woollahra.
Eligible people in the additional declared areas of Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong will only be eligible to lodge a claim for the payment from 4 July.
Those eligible will receive $500 if they’ve lost 20 hours or more of work, and $325 if they’ve lost less than 20 hours of work. They must not have liquid assets of more than $10,000 or be in receipt of other support payments.
This is a weekly payment and people will need to re-apply for any subsequent weeks where the Commonwealth declared hotspot and state imposed health restrictions have been in place for more than seven days.
Once a claim has been lodged, using a Centrelink online account through myGov, customers do not need to do anything else.
When their claim is approved, customers should get their payment the next business day.
Customers will receive an SMS when their claim is submitted. People don’t need to call to check on their claim.
If people aren’t claiming for an area that is eligible from today, they’ll need to wait until they are eligible before calling or lodging a claim.
Anyone who’s attempted to lodge prior to the date they become eligible will need to lodge a new claim. Payments will also be backdated to the date someone first became eligible, rather than the date the claim was lodged.
Eligible visa holders will need to call Services Australia on 180 22 66 to claim. Phone lines are open 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and 9am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday.
Other payments that may be available to eligible people across NSW include the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment, JobSeeker Payment and the Crisis Payment for National Health Emergency.
For more information on the COVID-19 Disaster Payment and other available supports go to servicesaustralia.gov.au/covid19