NSW Hospitality sector COVID-19 financial assistance

Disaster Payment: Support for workers adversely affected by a state public health order and deferral of gaming machine tax

The COVID-19 Disaster Payment is predominantly aimed at the hospitality and tourism industries where staff do not have access to appropriate paid leave entitlements; however, it is available to all individuals, regardless of industry, that meet the general eligibility criteria.

Individuals who are unable to earn income due to a COVID-19 lockdown, hotspot or period of restricted movement may be entitled to a lump sum payment.

You may be eligible if all of the following apply:

You can’t attend work and lost income on or after day 8 of a COVID-19 restriction of movement event
You don’t have access to appropriate paid leave entitlements through your employer
You’re not getting an income support payment, a state or territory pandemic payment, pandemic leave disaster payment or state small business payment for the same period

The COVID-19 Disaster Payment is a one off payment to help when COVID-19 restrictions last for more than 7 days. This payment is not available for the first 7 days of an event.

Other eligibility requirements include: being an Australian resident or holding an eligible working visa, being at least 17 years old and having liquid assets of less than $10,000.

The amount paid depends on your situation. The COVID-19 Disaster Payment is a taxable payment.

If you’re eligible and lost less than 20 hours work, you’ll get $325 for each relevant period of lockdown.
If you’re eligible and lost 20 hours or more of work, you’ll get $500 for each relevant period of lockdown.

Australian residents need to claim online via myGov. To claim online you need a myGov account linked to a Centrelink online account.

Working visa holders need to call Services Australia on 180 22 66 to make a claim. You can call the multilingual phone service on 131 202 to talk to Services Australia in another language.

New South Wales eligibility rules

There are two recognised New South Wales COVID-19 events:

Parts of Sydney from June 2021
Greater Sydney from June 2021

Individuals can claim for parts of Sydney or for Greater Sydney, not both.

Parts of Sydney

The relevant period of restricted movement is Thursday 1 July to Friday 9 July 2021 for the following Local Government Areas: Bayside, City of Sydney, Canada Bay, Inner West, Randwick, Waverley, and Woollahra.

Claims can be made from 1 July – 29 July 2021 for the period 1 – 7 July 2021.

Claims can be made from 1 July – 4 August 2021 for the period 8 – 9 July 2021.

Greater Sydney

The relevant period of restricted movement is Sunday 4 July to Friday 9 July 2021 for the Local Government Areas in the Greater Sydney region.

Claims can be made from 4 July – 1 August 2021 for the period 4 – 9 July 2021.

Gaming machine tax referral

The NSW Government announced the following changes to payment of gaming machine tax for hotels:

Gaming machine tax normally paid by hotels for the assessment period 1 April 2021 to 30 June 2021 is deferred to 23 August 2021

Important Information

Hotels are not required to apply
Payment of the April-June 2021 quarter will be direct debited from your nominated bank account on 23 August 2021

For more information on the 2021 gaming machine tax changes please click here.

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