The Federal Government has re-assured Central Coast residents the COVID-19 disaster relief payments of up to $500 will continue to be available during the extended lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal Member for Robertson Lucy Wicks issued the re-assurance yesterday, saying they have been available to local residents since July 4<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know this additional week of lockdown is going to be really hard for those people who have found themselves without work as a result of the restrictions being imposed upon us to keep our community safe,\u201d Ms Wicks said, <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe COVID disaster relief payment from the Federal Government is available for the additional week of lockdown. It\u2019s been available for people to access since the 4th of July. If you do find yourself without work, I encourage you to contact Services Australia to see if you are eligible for this payment which will be extended through the additional week of lockdown,\u201d she continued, <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe [wanna] do everything we can to help keep our Central Coast community safe but also to help all of us get through this together,\u201d Ms Wicks said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Federal COVID-19 disaster relief payments of up to $500 continue to be available to Central Coast residents during the extended lockdown it has been confirmed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The COVID-19 disaster payments are available for eligible people who reside or work in a Commonwealth declared hotspot and can\u2019t attend work as the result of the state-imposed health restrictions lasting greater than one week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n People affected by the ongoing lockdown are eligible to receive up to $500 according to Ms Wicks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEligible people will receive $500 if they\u2019ve lost 20 hours or more of work, and $325 if they\u2019ve lost less than 20 hours of work,\u201d Ms Wicks said in a previous statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To be eligible for the payment, applicants must not have liquid assets of more than $10,000 or receive other payments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The eligible people can submit their claim online through the Services Australia portal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Ms Wicks\u2019 state counterpart, Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch has called on the State Treasurer Dominic Perrottet to lobby the Federal Treasurer to increase its financial assistance to local workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the letter, Mr Crouch said in his letter<\/a> he does not believe the one-off payment is enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI do not believe that the current one-off payments of $325 for workers that have lost less than 20 hours of work, and $500 for workers that have lost more than 20 hours of work, are sufficient,\u201d Mr Crouch stated in his letter, <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile the community\u2019s health and safety must always be our number one priority, we also need to keep people in jobs and help businesses stay in business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n More information \u2013 including eligibility for payments \u2013 can be found online at the Services Australia website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Listen via the Star 104.5 Player, download it now via the <\/em>App Store<\/em><\/a> or <\/em>Google Play<\/em><\/a> and take Star 104.5 wherever you go. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n WATCH: Wake up with a laugh and join <\/em><\/strong>Rabbit & Sarah for Breakfast<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, weekdays, 6am-9am. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n