Government ensures disaster payments will be processed quickly

The Federal Government has ensured that COVID disaster payments, scheduled to begin next week, will be processed quickly.

Under the scheme, people who are over the age of 17 and usually work more than 20 hours per week will receive $500, while those who work under 20 hours will receive $325.

Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud says the government is well equipped to make payments to those affected as quickly as possible

“During the bushfires we were able to surge resources into particular parts of Services Australia,” he told Tom Elliott on 3AW Drive.

“60 per cent of those people who rang up looking for disaster payments had it in their bank account within 40 minutes.

“This is a different type of payment … but Services Australia is well adapted at being able to hand this, and they’re preparing for this come Tuesday Morning.”

The Minister said payments will only apply to the second week of the lockdown and will be predicated on the “hotspot definition defined by the Commonwealth”.

“They kick in after the first week, and that’s on any future lockdown,” he said.

“We don’t want to have a mechanism that encourages states to lockdown entire states if they don’t have to.”

Click PLAY to hear the interview below