The Covid-19 disaster relief program

The (Queensland) Covid-19 disaster relief program provides support for individuals that have lost 8 or more hours of work due to the lockdown. Eligible individuals will receive a one-off cash payment for each week of lockdown with claims made from day eight in arrears. Note that there will be no liquid assets test applied to check eligibility for these payments. In summary:

• Those who have lost 8-20 hours of work will receive $450 per week in compensation.

• Those who have lost 20+ hours of work will receive $750 per week of lockdown.

• Should you be receiving welfare payments you may still be eligible but will receive a reduced payment of $200.

Payments will be available from day one of the lockdown, and then continue weekly for the duration of the Commonwealth hotspot declaration.

Eligibility Criteria

1. You are an Australian resident.

2. You must be at least 17 years old to claim this payment.

3. You must not be receiving the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment, Parental Leave Pay or an income support payment.

4. Welfare payments (such as youth allowance) will be able to access reduced weekly payments of $200 if they meet the previously mentioned criteria. Note that this payment will not affect existing payments.

5. Couples are eligible but will have to claim individually.

6. You live or work in an area that has been declared a Covid-19 Hotspot. See a list of Queensland hotspots below:

   • City of Brisbane

   • City of Gold Coast

   • City of Ipswich

   • Lockyer Valley Regional Council

   • Logan City

   • Moreton Bay Region

   • Noosa Shire Council

   • Redland City

   • Scenic Rim Regional Council

   • Somerset Regional Council

   • Sunshine Coast Regional Council.

8. You have lost a minimum of 8 hours of work due to lockdown.

How to Apply

1. To apply for the payment, you will need an online myGov account which can be found at: https://my.gov.au/

2. You will need a Centrelink account to claim. If you have an existing account, it will prompt you for a CRN (Centrelink reference number) which you can use to link it to your MyGov.

3. Once set up and signed into MyGov, you will notice an alert at the top of the home page. Select the ‘Apply for support’ prompt.

4. Under the ‘Affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19) label, select ‘Get started’.

5. Answer the questions and submit your claim.

6. If eligible, the claim will be accepted, and a text message confirmation should be received.

Please review the source for up-to-date information.

Source: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/covid-19-disaster-payment-queensland