Month: December 2020

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, says the latest reported emissions drop, driven by the Covid-19 shutdowns, should provide no cover for the Morrison Government.
Australia’s reduction targets are some of the weakest in the developed world and are under renewed pressure after the election of Joe Biden who has called on nations to lift 2030 targets.
Indeed, when volatile land clearing figures are excluded, Australia’s emissions are actually above 2005 levels.
“Covid is not a climate policy,” Bandt said.
“As Australia emerges from the worst of the pandemic, emissions are set to rise again because the government has no climate plan.”
“Without stronger, science-based 2030 targets and a plan to phase out coal, gas and oil, emissions are set to rise again as we get the pandemic under control.
“One of the biggest drops in emissions, caused by the lockdown, was transport. While the UK is phasing out combustion engine sales in a decade, Australia is either doing nothing, or in some states even worse by bringing in EV taxes.
“The pandemic is not an acceptable means of reducing emissions.”
“Joe Biden will host a climate conference in his first 100 days as President, and that will be followed by the Glasgow climate summit. Australia has a very narrow window to turn our ship around and lift 2030 targets, or we will find ourselves out in the cold with Saudi Arabia and Russia.
“The US and Europe are gearing up for a race to the top, with huge opportunities in booming markets for renewable energy, hydrogen and green metals and manufactured goods.
“Our biggest markets for coal and gas in Japan, China and South Korea are all ramping up their emissions targets too. Australia’s ‘gas-led’ recovery is an act of economic ruin.

Australian Greens Disability Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said he was appalled at findings by the Disability Royal Commission, released today, that cited “serious failures” by the Morrison government to make “any significant effort” to consult with disabled people during the early stages of response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The recommenations made by the Chair are a vindication of the outrage and distress felt by disabled people, and our families, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic” Steele-John said.
“It proves that we were shut out of emergency response planning at the beginning of the pandemic, or not even considered, and as a result our lives were put at risk.
“The recommendations made by the Royal Commission today are clear and actionable, and reflect the seriousness of the neglect experienced by disabled people at the hands of the Morrison government.
“I’m glad to see the Royal Commission doing the job it has been empowered to do; the Australian Greens strongly support all 22 recommendations.”

Labour market economist Professor Jeff Borland has told the senate inquiry looking into the JobSeeker COVID supplement rate that the higher rate of JobSeeker doesn’t impact on the rates of people seeking employment.
Rather than relying on anecdotal claims that unemployed people aren’t looking for work because of the rates of the coronavirus supplement, Professor Borland has looked at the market figures which show there has been no decrease in the number of people moving from unemployment to employment once the economy started reopening again, Senator Rachel Siewert said.
Professor Borland’s research shows:

• Vacancy rates have not returned to their rates prior to the pandemic;
• Increasing the JobSeeker Payment would not result in any significant financial disincentive for jobseekers to shift into employment;
• The COVID‐19 JobKeeper Supplement has not affected the speed with which jobs are being filled or caused a large‐scale shortage of labour; and
• The main drivers of labour supply in Australia since the onset of the pandemic have been macroeconomic conditions and direct effects of COVID‐19.

It’s outrageous that the Government have continued their ideological attacks on people on income support in the face of the worst recession of a generation.
The claims that having an unemployment payment above the poverty line is a disincentive for people looking for work is just demonising people accessing the social safety net and its simply untrue.
Professor Borland recently published Would a rise in JobSeeker affect incentives for paid work?

The Australian Government welcomes the COVID-19 report of the Disability Royal Commission.
The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen significant challenges in the way all Australians live our lives, however, the Government recognises the unique factors that need to be considered when managing the health care needs of people with disability.
One of our most important tasks during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic has been protecting those with disability.
To that end, it is a profoundly important human outcome that we have been able to keep Australians with disability overwhelmingly safe with significantly lower positive case numbers and lives lost in the disability community, than in the broader Australian population, which itself has been one of the strongest outcomes in the world.
Through the course of the pandemic, Australia has had 108 cases of COVID diagnosed per 100,000 people for the general population. By comparison, 43.4 cases per 100,000 people have been diagnosed for NDIS participants which is less than half of the national rate.
Each life lost is an agonising tragedy. In this context we owe a debt of gratitude to our carers, health workers and support community for ensuring that our rate of 2.18 lives lost per 100,000 NDIS participants is over 40% below our national loss of life, 3.6% lives lost per 100,000 Australians.
Australia acted swiftly in responding to protecting both the overall population and in particular our most vulnerable Australians.
Based on our best advice, Australia was one the two earliest nations to have a special, dedicated COVID response plan for our disability community. From very early on we took action.
Minister for Health Greg Hunt said the Government acknowledged people living with disability often have specific health needs, which is particularly pertinent in the context of a global pandemic.
“This is why the Australian Government through February, March and April acted early on disability consultation and led the establishment of the Management and Operational Plan for COVID-19 for People with Disability (April), which provides a targeted response for people with disability, their families, carers and support workers,” Minister Hunt said.
“The development of this plan involved significant collaboration between governments at all levels, disability and health sectors, academics and people with disability.”
“New flexible approaches for service delivery such as telehealth, home medicines delivery and infection training has changed the landscape of the health care sector.”
“We also continue our work with jurisdictions to ensure flexible testing arrangements for people with disability and continued access to personal protective equipment (PPE).”
“Since the pandemic began, the Department of Health, through the National Medical Stockpile, dispatched over 690,000 masks, 30,000 gloves, 85,000 goggles and face shields to the NDIA and to individual NDIS participants. This is in addition to the 29 July announcement which allowed NDIS participants and providers to claim the cost of PPE from the NDIA, in designated hotspots,” Minister Hunt said.
Minister for Social Services, Anne Ruston, said the Commonwealth worked quickly and collaboratively with people with disability and their representative organisations, service providers, state and territory governments and health authorities in response to the COVID19 pandemic.
“The Government established the COVID-19 Disability Information Helpline, introduced measures to meet the immediate needs of National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants and provided additional disability employment support,” Minister Ruston said.
“This year we have committed about $46 million to disability advocacy and representative organisations, including funding specifically earmarked to support organisations provide the Government with information about emerging issues affecting the sector during the pandemic.”
Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme Stuart Robert said the Commonwealth’s response to the pandemic for NDIS participants was swift and ongoing.
“The Government commenced planning for issues of disability when COVID started striking in February. Disability ministers from around the country gathered on 18 March, and we’ve gathered four times throughout the pandemic to ensure the needs of people with disability are considered and responded to quickly,” Minister Robert said.
“The NDIA rapidly implemented a range of temporary measures to support NDIS participants, such as providing low-cost assistive technology, including smart devices, so participants could access telehealth services; the ability to claim for the cost of PPE; and greater plan flexibility.”
“The NDIA also made over 81,000 proactive outreach calls to vulnerable participants across Australia and paid more than $666 million in advance payments to more than 5,000 NDIS providers, ensuring much needed financial supports and continuity of services.”
“In Victoria and, more recently, in South Australia, the NDIA and the Government were able to be agile to ensure the health and wellbeing of NDIS participants by turning on these temporary measures. Should community outbreaks occur in the future, the Government has the appropriate governance and structures in place to respond flexibly as circumstances require, consistent with public health orders.”
“The Government continues to identify and strengthen our systems and processes and bolster support for at-risk NDIS participants and other vulnerable groups,” Minister Robert said.
The Australian Government will work across relevant portfolios and Ministers to respond to the Commission’s recommendations as a matter of priority.

 

The Australian Government today announced a world-leading technology development that will further improve the COVIDSafe App and bolster the continued fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.
The update comes as the Government launches a new advertising campaign as a reminder that as we head into Christmas and restrictions are easing, people should maintain COVID-safe behaviours.
The COVIDSafe App will incorporate a new Bluetooth protocol called Herald that will offer unparalleled app-level Bluetooth performance and contribute to better identification of potential close contacts. The update will improve our contact tracing capability, integrated with state and territory health authorities.
The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) has been working with Apple and Google on incorporating the new protocol in the COVIDSafe App and performing extensive testing across all scenarios for both Android and iOS devices. The protocol provides for excellent performance of all encounter logging under all phone conditions and will continue to work on more than 96 per cent of Apple and Android phones.
The DTA has also been working with the Australian Cyber Security Centre to ensure the security of the new code meets the same stringent requirements as the previous versions of the COVIDSafe App.
Minister Hunt said now is not the time to be complacent when it comes to protecting yourself and your family against COVID-19 infection.
‘The Government is reinforcing the message not to be complacent in regards to the risks of spreading COVID-19 and how to stay safe, including having the App on your phone,’ Minister Hunt said.
‘The latest advertising campaign, which begins this week, is an important reminder that as we head into Christmas and restrictions are easing, people should maintain COVID-safe behaviours.’
Minister Robert said the code for the update is being made available now to the public via Github to enable the tech community an opportunity to provide feedback ahead of the release to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
‘Australia’s technology capability and contact tracing systems are world-leading and we will be the first country in the world to adopt the Herald Bluetooth protocol, which has been shown to significantly improve our capability through the COVIDSafe App,’ Minister Robert said.
‘We are continuing to welcome the input and feedback of the tech community and we are making the code available ahead of the release being available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. We are encouraging everyone interested to review the code, conduct their own testing and provide their feedback.
‘We are also making this code available to other countries so they too can benefit from Australia’s world first technology implementation to help improve their digital response to managing COVID-19.
‘Over 7.1 million Australians have downloaded and registered the COVIDSafe App and with states and territories opening up, now is a timely reminder to download or update the App to assist in keeping you and your family safe.’
When used as part of state and territory contact tracing efforts, the COVIDSafe App has proven to assist in identifying close contacts not picked up through manual tracing. New South Wales successfully accessed the COVIDSafe App to identify 80 close contacts, including 17 contacts that weren’t identified by manually contact tracing. In one instance, NSW’s access to the App revealed a previously unrecognised exposure date from a known venue (Mounties). This resulted in the identification of an additional 544 contacts, with two people from this group subsequently confirmed to have COVID-19.
In Victoria, it has been reported that 1,851 cases have said they have the App and are now using it as part of their contact tracing process. Victoria did stop using the COVIDSafe App at a point in time at the height of the second wave as it had not been integrated properly into their contact tracing process.
The COVIDSafe App continues to be an important part of Australia’s efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. To protect you and your family, continue to practice good hygiene, practice social distancing and download and update the COVIDSafe App.
More information on the update to COVIDSafe is available on the DTA website at https://www.dta.gov.au/news/covidsafe-captures-close-contacts-new-herald… and the code incorporating the Herald protocol is available on Github for iOS at https://github.com/AU-COVIDSafe/mobile-ios/tree/herald and for Android at https://github.com/AU-COVIDSafe/mobile-android/tree/herald.

The Morrison Government will invest a further $132.2 million in its response to the Aged Care Royal Commission’s recommendations on COVID-19.
The Government accepted and is acting on all six recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety as previously announced in October 2020.
The $132.2 million package includes $63.3 million for a range of Medical Benefits Schedule (MBS) measures including mental and allied health support, and additional allied health group services, $57.8 million to fund jurisdictions to support Infection Prevention and Control training within facilities and a further $11.1 million toward a Serious Incident Response Scheme.
These measures mark not only an improvement in access to mental and allied health services for senior Australians in aged care but also provides additional funding to GPs and allied health professionals delivering in-person care in facilities nationwide.
The Government’s progress on implementation and response to the Royal Commission report:
Recommendation 1
The Australian Government should report to Parliament by no later than 1 December 2020 on the implementation of these recommendations.
Accepted.
Response tabled in Parliament on 30 November 2020 on the implementation of the Royal Commission’s recommendations.
Recommendation 2
The Australian Government should immediately fund providers that apply for funding to ensure there are adequate staff available to allow continued visits to people living in residential aged care by their families and friends.
Accepted.
The Government has delivered $217.6 million (as part of a $245 million and in addition to $205 million measures earlier in 2020) to support providers with COVID-19 related costs, including supporting visitation arrangements.
On 14 October 2020, the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck wrote to all providers reinforcing expectations with regard to visitation.
In the letter, Minister Colbeck noted that the Government agrees with the Royal Commission’s focus on ensuring aged care residents are not isolated from their loved ones when there is an outbreak or heightened risk; and that the mental and emotional toll this takes is too high a price to pay.
As part of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 Aged Care Financial Reports, providers will be required to report on all COVID-19 sources of revenue they have received, and then allocate the additional expenditures incurred including labour, extra staff costs, resident support, communication, visitation arrangements, infection control, and waste management.
Through the establishment of the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre in July 2020, 56 Residential Aged Care Visitation Assistant positions were filled to support Victorian RACFs to support visits between residents and their loved ones.
The Australian Government has released three-tier guidance on actions aged care providers should take in response to a situation of escalating or de-escalating COVID-19 threat level in the local community including visitation guidelines.
The Government has also prioritised the commencement of the Serious Incident Response Scheme from 1 April 2021, providing a total investment of $67.2 million including $11.1 million in additional funding.
Additionally, the Government is providing increased advocacy support investing a further $2.5 million in the Older Persons COVID-19 Support Line.
Recommendation 3
The Australian Government should urgently create Medicare Benefits Schedule items to increase the provision of allied health services, including mental health services, to people in aged care during the pandemic. Any barriers, whether real or perceived, to allied health professionals being able to enter residential aged care facilities should be removed unless justified on genuine public health grounds.
Accepted.
The Australian Government has announced additional measures to support the mental and physical health of residents of aged care facilities.
This $63.3 million investment includes:

• $35.5 million to provide access to Medicare subsidised individual psychological services under the Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists and General Practitioners through the MBS (Better Access) initiative until 30 June 2022 and to evaluate Better Access.
• $12.1 million for additional individual allied health sessions under Medicare chronic disease management plans.
• $15.7 million for allied health group services for residents living in facilities affected by COVID-19 outbreaks.

From 10 December, 2020 until 30 June 2022, eligibility requirements for the Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists and General Practitioners through the MBS will be expanded to permit aged care residents to access up to 20 individual psychological services where their general practitioner or psychiatrist determines they would clinically benefit from additional mental health support.
New chronic disease management Medicare items will allow aged care residents to receive twice the number of the current subsidised allied health services they can currently access. The extra services being supported can be from physiotherapists, occupational therapists and exercise physiologists. Additionally, in those facilities that have experienced COVID-19 outbreaks and associated periods of extended lockdown, group allied health sessions will be provided to assist the care of residents.
Recommendation 4
The Australian Government should establish a national aged care plan for COVID-19 through the National Cabinet in consultation with the aged care sector.
Accepted.
The Updated National COVID-19 Aged Care Plan (7th Edition) was endorsed by the Australian Health Protection Principle Committee (AHPPC) and tabled at National Cabinet on 13 November 2020. The Plan presents a national approach to assist the aged care sector to be well positioned to prevent, prepare, respond and recover from COVID-19, acknowledging that flexibility is required to suit local situations occurring within jurisdictions. The AHPPC’s Aged Care Advisory Group has been made permanent – meeting another recommendation of the Royal Commission report.
The Australian Government continues to work collaboratively with the states and territories to develop and refine planning documents (linked to the National Plan) for COVID-19 outbreaks in aged care. The Commonwealth and states and territories are committed to further defining specific actions in the event of an outbreak, based on lessons learned from all outbreaks to date.
The Commonwealth has commissioned a national review to examine lessons learnt from the management of outbreaks, and identify critical success factors, which could increase the likelihood of rapid detection, and timely remediation or response from providers. The review will focus on services and relevant government agency support which may have mitigated broader outbreaks in residential aged care facilities. The review is expected to be completed by the end of March 2021.
To date, the Government has funded more than $1.6 billion in aged care specific measures to support the plan.
Recommendation 5
All residential aged care homes should have one or more trained infection control officers as a condition of accreditation. The training requirements for these officers should be set by the aged care advisory body we propose.
Accepted.
In August 2020 funding of $217.6 million (as part of a $245 million measure) was announced to assist aged care providers to support COVID-19 efforts to prepare and respond to COVID-19, including to support the costs of engaging an Infection, Prevention Control (IPC) lead. This was delivered in October 2020 to providers.
In a letter to all residential aged care providers on 14 October, Minister Colbeck noted that the IPC lead:

• must be a designated member of the nursing staff which has completed (or initially is in the process of completing) an identified IPC course;
• is employed by the Approved Provider and reports to the Approved Provider, which retains overall responsibility for IPC in accordance with its obligations under the Aged Care Act 1997;
• observes, assesses and reports on IPC of the service, and assists with developing procedures/provides advice within the services; and
• must be engaged onsite for each facility and dedicated to that facility; and may have a broader role within the facility and could be an existing member of the nursing staff.

The Government has also agreed that residential aged care providers will be required to demonstrate compliance with the IPC Lead requirement as a condition of accreditation via the Aged Care Quality Standards.
Recommendation 6
The Australian Government should arrange with the States and Territories to deploy accredited infection prevention and control experts into residential aged care homes to provide training, assist with the preparation of outbreak management plans and assist with outbreaks.
Accepted.
The Commonwealth is working collaboratively with the states and territories to ensure the extended delivery of high quality face-to-face IPC training to the sector. In particular, the Government has committed $57.8 million to fund jurisdictions to deploy accredited IPC experts into RACFs to provide training and assist with the refinement of outbreak management plans where needed.
The Australian Government has been working with state and territory governments to implement a decision of National Cabinet of 21 August, 2020 for three actions to boost preparedness at the provider, local, state and national level of:

• Ongoing assessment of the preparedness of aged care providers.
• Auditing of State and Territory emergency response capabilities and planning for the standing up of joint health aged care emergency responses.
• Prioritisation of additional face-to-face infection prevention and control training for residential aged care providers.

All state and territory governments have established aged care emergency response centres and have confirmed that these Centres can be activated within 48 hours of an outbreak.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is also currently working with state and territory governments, and local health authorities across the nation to monitor and test preparedness of aged care services to respond to a COVID-19 outbreak.
Minister for Health Greg Hunt said the response to the Royal Commission’s report and updated plan demonstrated the Government’s ongoing commitment to improving care for senior Australians, and keeping them safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This investment directly addresses issues raised by the Aged Care Royal Commission and will improve and support the health and wellbeing of aged care residents most significantly impacted by COVID-19,” Minister Hunt said.
“For our aged care sector, the revised plan allows flexibility to manage individual situations in each state and territory.
“It also builds on and consolidates the critical and successful work already undertaken by the Commonwealth Government.”
Minister Colbeck, said the aged care plan was developed in close consultation with the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee’s Aged Care Advisory Group (ACAG) – which has been made permanent – meeting another recommendation of the Royal Commission report.
“While we hope there won’t be further COVID-19 outbreaks in aged care facilities or in home care, if it does happen, key learnings will inform the future work of the ACAG and be shared with the aged care sector,” Minister Colbeck said.
“Wherever there are high rates of community transmission, the risk to older people and particularly those in residential aged care increases as demonstrated in Victoria and South Australia. It is a reminder of the need to be vigilant.”
“Residents have been affected by visitor restrictions, staffing pressures and operational changes. But the Australian Government has listened and acted to provide measures aimed at protecting facilities where there is significant community transmission.”
In recognition of the mental health impacts of COVID-19, aged care residents will be eligible to receive up to 20 individual psychological services, in line with the services available to the broader community.
A new chronic disease management Medicare item will also allow aged care residents to receive twice the number of the current subsidised allied health services.
The extra services can be from physiotherapists, occupational therapists and exercise physiologists.
Additionally, in those facilities that have experienced COVID-19 outbreaks and associated periods of extended lockdown, group allied health sessions will be provided. Allied health services will be commissioned by Primary Health Networks (PHNs).
The PHN regions targeted initially include those across Victoria, Tasmania, Northern and South Western Sydney, the Nepean the Blue Mountains and the Hunter New England and Central Coast areas of New South Wales.
Group sessions will be available to residents in facilities affected by COVID-19 outbreaks, including people who need rehabilitation after recovering from COVID-19, and people who have lost condition or mobility because of restrictions put in place to manage the outbreak.
The introduction of the Serious Incident Response Scheme to provide additional protection for aged care residents will be prioritised with an additional funding of $11.1 million, taking the Government’s total investment in the scheme to $67.2 million.
Minister Colbeck said the measures met the Royal Commission recommendations, with investment to reinforce the sector and protect residents and staff totalling more than       $1.7 billion.
“This includes specific measures actioned in advance of the report, including the placement of infection control officers across sites,” Minister Colbeck said.
“The Government is working closely with aged care providers and all states and territories to ensure the ongoing safety and care of senior Australians.”
The Government’s full response to the Aged Care Royal Commission’s report on the COVID-19 and progress on its implementation can be found here.
The Updated National COVID-19 Aged Care Plan–7^th Edition can be found here.

To mark World AIDS Day 2020 and support the ‘now more than ever’ theme, the Morrison Government will provide almost $6.2 million towards the ongoing battle against HIV, and has expanded access to Dovato® on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Today, more than 28,000 Australians are living with HIV and it is very pleasing that most have a suppressed viral load. That means they’re healthy and unlikely to pass on the virus to anyone else.
Australia’s collective and long term track record and leadership in HIV, working together to provide innovative treatments and supporting people living with HIV is respected globally, however – now more than ever – it’s important to maintain the focus.
To take us further along this path to virtual elimination and to support the health and mental wellbeing of people living with HIV, the Morrison Government will allocate:

• up to $1.5 million to the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) and National Association of People with HIV Australia (NAPWHA) – over two years to develop a workforce development program that increases the knowledge and skills of the workforce and contributes to a reduction in new HIV infections
• up to $750,000 to the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AVIL) over two years to work with its members to implement a number of projects aligned to the key priority areas of the National Strategies; and
• up to $1.4 million to the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) over two years to implement a number of projects including a Hepatitis B Primary Care Referral Pilot Pathway, a trans and gender diverse health care model and review of user experience, a Primary Health Network engagement pilot and an update to the All Good online resource.

A further $2.5 million will support innovation in the sector with grants of up to $500,000 to provide positive outcomes for the National Strategies priority populations.
This funding is part of the $45.4 million investment allocated in the 2019–20 Federal Budget to implement five National Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections Strategies, including the Eighth National HIV Strategy.
This is Australia’s roadmap to help further reduce new infections and improve health outcomes.
Our goals include virtually eliminating HIV transmission in Australia by 2022, reducing mortality and morbidity related to HIV and supporting those living with HIV by reducing stigma and discrimination.
Also from today, access to the important new treatment option Dovato® (DOLUTEGRAVIR + LAMIVUDINE) on the PBS will be expanded for the treatment of people living with HIV who have already used antiretroviral therapy.
Previously this medicine was only available on the PBS for people newly diagnosed with HIV who had not had treatment. The expanded listing for the once-daily treatment gives people with HIV more treatment options.
This PBS listing is expected to benefit approximately 28,000 people living with HIV in Australia. Without subsidy, it could cost them more than $8,500 per year, however will now cost as little as $6.60 with a concession card.
This expanded listing follows the recent expansion of other important medicines for people living with HIV over recent years including expanded PBS access to Biktarvy® for children with HIV from 1 September 2020.
The Eighth National HIV Strategy is available on the Department of Health website.

Australia’s economic recovery is well underway and has been strongly supported by the Morrison Government’s temporary JobKeeper payment.
Announced in March 2020, the first phase of JobKeeper supported more than 3.6 million workers and around 1 million businesses, with payments totalling nearly $70 billion for the 13 JobKeeper fortnights to 27 September 2020.
Following a re-test of business eligibility for the second phase of JobKeeper, for the two JobKeeper fortnights in October, around 500,000 entities have had applications processed covering more than 1.5 million employees/eligible business participants (ATO data, current as at 26 November 2020).
The preliminary data indicates that around 450,000 fewer businesses and around 2 million fewer employees qualified for JobKeeper in October than in September.
Around 86 per cent of workers qualified for the Tier 1 payment of $1,200 per fortnight, with around 14 per cent on the Tier 2 payment of $750 per fortnight.
These preliminary October JobKeeper figures suggest an improvement on the 2020-21 Budget assumption of 2.2 million recipients for the December quarter, with around 700,000 fewer employees/eligible business participants covered by the Payment in October due to their employer no longer meeting the required decline in turnover test.
The lower-than-forecast take-up of the JobKeeper Payment extension in October is further evidence that Australia’s recovery from this once-in-a-century pandemic is well underway.
Recent economic data shows that outside Victoria, employment has recovered to be less than one per cent below March levels with some 650,000 jobs created in the past five months nationwide.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has recently updated its forecast for the unemployment rate, which it now expects to peak at around 8 per cent, down from its earlier forecast of 10 per cent.
The effective unemployment rate decreased from 9.3 per cent in September to 7.4 per cent in October, with around 80 per cent of those who lost their job or stood down on zero hours now back at work.
In Victoria, as restrictions have eased, the effective unemployment rate has fallen from 14 per cent to 10.5 per cent.
While there is still a long road ahead, these are promising signs that our economic recovery is well underway.