• The eligibility criteria for the federal COVID-19 disaster payment have been slightly eased in response to the Greater Sydney COVID-19 lockdown.
• Speaking in Sydney on Thursday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the liquid asset test, which barred those with more than $10,000 in savings from accessing the payment, will be waived.
• But that waiver only applies for the third week of a federally-recognised lockdown, Morrison said.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

The $10,000 liquid asset test for the federal COVID-19 disaster payment will be waived for the third week of Greater Sydney’s lockdowns, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced, providing tens of thousands of newly-eligible Sydneysiders with up to $500 to cover three weeks of lost work.

Fronting the media in Sydney on Thursday, Morrison announced the payment, which offers workers who have lost hours as the result of COVID-19 lockdowns between $325 and $500, will be tweaked in response to New South Wales’ ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

The payment, introduced in response to Victoria’s most recent lockdowns, kicks in for residents and workers in postcodes entering their second week of a federally-recognised COVID-19 lockdown.

They support measure was criticised for its strict eligibility requirements, which barred those with more than $10,000 in savings. Social service advocates and unions said that barrier, among others, precluded many vulnerable workers from financial support.

Today’s announcement means applicants with more than $10,000 tucked away will be eligible for the support payment from the third week of lockdowns. The new eligibility tweak will also apply to future lockdowns, Morrison added.

That eligibility period will open for workers and residents of the first local government areas plunged into lockdown today, Morrison said. Eligiblity will open to those locked down in the Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour regions on July 11.

The measure falls short of what the NSW Government has requested from Canberra. On Wedesday, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said that NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet had requested the federal government renew the $90 billion JobKeeper payment, which Frydenberg dismissed.

When questioned today on why federal government will not split support costs with the NSW Government, which has pledged grants of up to $10,000 for businesses which lose turnover as a result of the lockdowns, Morrison said it is the Commonwealth’s mandate to look after individuals, with state authorities tasked with assisting businesses.

Morrison added that mutual obligations tests will be temporarily waived for welfare recipients through the lockdown, and revealed that 300,000 vaccine doses, split between both Pfizer and AstraZeneca formulations, will be “brought forward” for administration in Sydney’s primary areas of concern.

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