For the latest COVID-19 advice & information please visit www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19
RESTRICTIONS EASE IN LGAs OF CONCERN
- Restrictions in local government areas of concern have started to align with other lockdown areas, as vaccination rates continue to rise in Sydney’s West and South-West.
- The following restrictions have been eased for those who live in LGAs of concern:
- No limit on the duration of outdoor exercise and recreation (previously a two-hour limit);
- Outdoor gatherings of up to five fully vaccinated people (not including children aged 12 and under) allowed in a person’s LGA or within 5km of home (previously only fully vaccinated household members could gather outdoors, or up to two fully vaccinated people from different households);
- Shopping, exercise and outdoor recreation can be done 5km from home or within your LGA (previously only 5km from home);
- Attend a small wedding (maximum 11 people) in Greater Sydney as a guest (previously only allowed in their LGA); and
- A person’s single’s bubble buddy can live in Greater Sydney (previously must have resided within 5km of a person’s home). A person from a LGA of concern can also now be a buddy for someone in Greater Sydney.
- From 12.01am Monday, 27 September outdoor pools across NSW will be able to open, provided councils have a stringent COVID safety plan approved by NSW Health. Natural pools are already permitted to be open.
NEW $5 BILLION WESTINVEST FUND TO REJUVENATE WESTERN SYDNEY COMMUNITIES AND BOOST JOBS
- A new $5 billion investment by the NSW Government will help secure a brighter future for western and south-western Sydney families and residents, helping build new and improved facilities and local infrastructure to help communities hit hard by COVID-19.
- The unprecedented boost was made possible by the State’s strong financial management and asset recycling strategy, with the NSW Government announcing the sale of its residual 49 per cent stake in WestConnex for $11.1 billion.
- The new WestInvest Fund will allocate $3 billion for future projects across six areas: parks, urban spaces and green space; enhancing community infrastructure such as local sporting grounds; modernising local schools; creating and enhancing arts and cultural facilities; revitalising high-streets; and clearing local traffic.
- The remaining $2 billion will be reserved for high priority projects to be developed in consultation with local communities.
‘FRIENDS BUBBLE’ CREATED FOR CHILDREN TO ALLOW HOME VISITS IN TIME FOR SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
- Children and teenagers are able to create a ‘friends bubble’ to allow home visits provided the adults in their homes are fully vaccinated, under an easing of restrictions for school holidays.
- People aged 18 years and under who live in stay-at-home areas and areas of concern across NSW are able to create a bubble of three friends and visit each other’s homes for play and activity, subject to the following conditions:
- Each child is allowed to have two designated friends come to their house. These two friends must always be the same, creating a three-person “friends bubble”;
- All people older than 18 years in all the households must be fully vaccinated;
- The friends must reside within 5km of each other or in the same LGA; and
- If parents/carers are dropping children off, they must not stay to interact with other parents or carers.
EASING RESTRICTIONS TO GET WORKERS BACK ON THE TOOLS
- The NSW Government is easing restrictions for the construction industry, by resuming full capacity at unoccupied construction sites with COVID-safe plans, and removing the cap on outdoor workers at occupied premises from next week, so long as vaccination requirements are met.
- From Monday 27 September, the cap on construction will be removed completely for all unoccupied construction sites, and the cap on the number of outdoor workers at occupied sites will also be removed. Workforce vaccination requirements and requirements for COVID-safe site plans remain in place.
- Workers from LGAs of concern who meet vaccination requirements are already permitted to leave their LGAs for construction on unoccupied sites. From Monday, workers will also be able to leave their LGAs to do outdoor work on occupied sites, provided they meet the current vaccination requirements for authorised workers.
- To ensure the safety of the community, all current restrictions on indoor work at occupied premises will remain in place.
MORE CASH TO FIX LOCAL ROADS IN THE BUSH
- Hundreds of additional roads across regional NSW will receive funding for vital works to improve journeys for regional communities, farmers and freight.
- The announcement includes $153 million for 94 regional councils to fix, maintain and seal priority roads in the bush through Round 3 of the NSW Government’s Fixing Local Roads program.
- Fixing Local Roads has already delivered more than $394 million for 361 projects across 91 regional Local Government Areas from Armidale to Albury in the first two rounds.
- Fixing Local Roads is a $500 million NSW Government program, which was boosted by the Commonwealth Government over the first two rounds with an additional injection of $191 million. Further information can be found at www.nswroads.work/fixinglocalroads.
FUNDING BOOST FOR DISABILITY ADVOCACY SERVICES
- People with disability will be better supported to access services and support under the NSW Government’s new Disability Advocacy Futures Program.
- More than $13 million under the Disability Advocacy Futures Program will be allocated to organisations across individual, systemic and representative advocacy types.
- It will support the more than 1.4 million people with disability in NSW, not just those accessing services and supports under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
- The NSW Government is investing $3.6 billion in the NDIS in 2021-22.
$4 MILLION FOR MORE GREEN SPACES IN SYDNEY
- A new urban forest, the upgrading of a significant indigenous site and a waterside boardwalk are part of a $4 million program for new and improved public space projects coming to Greater Sydney.
- The successful councils are Blacktown City, City of Canada Bay, City of Canterbury Bankstown, Georges River, The Hills Shire, Hornsby Shire, Inner West, Lane Cove, Liverpool City, Northern Beaches, Strathfield and Woollahra.
- The successful councils are required to plant at least one tree for every $2,500 received and match the grant funding dollar-for-dollar.
- The MGP is aligned with the Premier’s Priority – Greening our City – to have one million trees planted across Greater Sydney by mid-2022. So far, more than 600,000 have been planted.
MORE ROUGH SLEEPERS INTO SECURE HOMES
- More than 500 people who were previously sleeping rough now have a safe place to call home, one year on from the establishment of the NSW Government’s landmark Together Home program.
- Together Home is being delivered in partnership with community housing providers, specialist homelessness services and healthcare agencies.
- It involves securing housing for rough sleepers from the private rental market and connecting them to tailored support services to address their individual needs.
- The NSW Government has invested a total of $122.1 million in the program, which is expected to help 1,050 people off the street and into housing.
- Together Home is a key contributor towards achieving the Premier’s Priority of halving street sleeping across NSW by 2025.
- Anyone who is homeless or is at risk of homelessness can call Link2home on 1800 152 152 for information and referrals to services, including temporary accommodation.