Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

The immediate challenges remain real for many Australians, particularly those facing lockdowns in greater Sydney, in South East Queensland, and others along the way. We are directly delivering financial support to impacted individuals and to businesses. People who have lost more than 20 hours of work in the previous week during a lockdown can claim $750. People who have lost between eight hours or a full day of work to 20 hours can claim $450. These are equivalent levels of support we provided with JobKeeper last year but in a more targeted tailored program that can effectively reach those who need it most. In fact, it's a program that Premier Dan Andrews has likened to being an updated version of JobKeeper. Individuals who currently receive an income support payment through our social security safety net will also receive an additional weekly payment of $200 if they have lost more than eight hours of work, whilst we have plans and operations in place with states and territories in relation to cost-sharing support for small- and medium-sized businesses, all of it designed to help ensure we get people through these difficult times so they come back strongly afterwards.