The prime minister Scott Morrison has announced Victorian workers who have no sick pay available to them will now be eligible for income support if they are required to self-isolate.
The new ‘disaster payment’ will provide eligible workers with a $1500 payment to encourage them to remain in self-isolation. The payment was announced following media reports that people were breaking self-isolation as they had no means to support themselves without the ability to earn a wage.
The new payment is meant to cover a fortnight of isolation, removing the financial burden of staying home.
Who is eligible?
The payment is currently only available to workers in Victoria and is for people who have been ordered to self-isolate but have no sick leave entitlements remaining.
It is not available to workers currently receiving JobKeeper or JobSeeker.
When can I apply?
Victorian workers with no sick leave can apply for the disaster payment from Wednesday, August 5. Applications can be made over the phone via 1800-22-66
The PM said applications will be processed rapidly to ensure people are incentivised to stay at home.
Can I get it more than once?
Should a person be required to self isolate multiple times, additional payments will be available
“People can actually access the payment multiple times if, unfortunately, they’re in a position where they have to self-isolate as a direct requirement on multiple times and hopefully, that won’t be too often,” the PM confirmed.
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