Coronavirus Supplement 101-20033043

The Coronavirus Supplement was first introduced on 27 April 2020 to allow the Government to provide additional support to Australians impacted by the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Coronavirus Supplement stopped on 31 March 2021.

From 27 April 2020 until 24 September 2020, recipients of eligible payments received a temporary Coronavirus Supplement of $550 per fortnight for recipients of eligible income support payments.

The Coronavirus Supplement was extended from 25 September 2020 to 31 December 2020 at a rate of $250 per fortnight.

The Coronavirus Supplement was further extended from 1 January 2021 to 31 March 2021 at a rate of $150 per fortnight.

The supplement ended on 31 March 2021, and a permanent increase of $50 per fortnight for working age payments applied from 1 April 2021.

Eligibility for the Coronavirus Supplement is dependent upon payability for the eligible supplement income support payment.

The Resources page has details about the rate period to customers during the transition periods.

The following payments were Coronavirus Supplement eligible income support payments:

• JobSeeker Payment (JSP), including all payments transitioning to JSP or stopping:
• Sickness Allowance (SA)
• Widow Allowance (WA)
• Partner Allowance (PA)
• Youth Allowance (YA) (job seeker, students and apprentices)
• Parenting Payment (PP)
• Special Benefit (SpB)
• ABSTUDY Living Allowance
• Austudy
• Farm Household Allowance (FHA)

Payments not listed above did not receive the supplement.

Customers did not need to apply for the supplement. Payment of the Coronavirus Supplement was made automatically to customers receiving an eligible payment. Coronavirus Supplement was backdated for eligible claims.

Customers on an eligible payment had to receive a minimum of $1(this includes amounts under $1, for example $0.48) of payment within their regular Entitlement Period in order to receive the supplement for that reporting period.

This could be made up of add on payments such as Rent Assistance (RA) or Energy Supplement, Pharmaceutical Allowance (PhA), Pension Supplement, Remote Area Allowance (RAA) and Youth Disability Supplement.

Note: the following are not included in the supplements and add-on payments for Coronavirus Supplement:

• Approved Program of Work Supplement (APWS)
• Utilities Allowance
• Transition to Independent Living allowance (TILA)
• Education Entry Payment (EdEP)
• Language, Literacy and Numeracy Supplement (LLNS), and
• Telephone Allowance (TAL)

If the customer's payment reduced due to income declared or a compliance penalty and they did not receive at least $1, they did not receive the supplement for that fortnight.

The Coronavirus Supplement was a taxable payment and was considered income for the following:

• Taxable income for a Tax Return
• Family Tax Benefit (FTB) estimate for the purposes of FTB and Child Care Subsidy (CCS)
• Child Support (CS) for the purposes of a CS assessment or debt

The Supplement will be included in the payment summary for the appropriate financial year. Customers in receipt of a taxable payment may elect to have tax deductions made from their basic payment each payday. See Australian Taxation Office (ATO) tax deductions.

Families who receive FTB or CCS will need to consider revising their 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 family income estimate to include this payment. See Estimating income for family assistance and Paid Parental Leave scheme payments.

The Supplement will be included when calculating a financial penalty under the Targeted Compliance Framework.

The Coronavirus Supplement Entitlement Period is not the same as the customers fortnightly reporting period.

The Coronavirus Supplement Entitlement Period should not be used to assess payability of the supplement.

The Resources page has a list of the Coronavirus Supplement Entitlement Periods.

The Coronavirus Supplement was income managed. The same Income Management rules that apply to the customer's regular payments for Income Management and the Cashless Debit Card (CDC) applied.

NEIS participants could access the Coronavirus Supplement while participating in the NEIS program.

Until 31 March 2021, income support recipients starting NEIS could stay on their current income support payment or transfer to NEIS Allowance.

Existing NEIS Allowance recipients could apply for income support through Services Australia and access the Coronavirus Supplement, instead of receiving NEIS Allowance.

From 1 April 2021, NEIS participants in receipt of JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and certain other payments will be progressively transferred to NEIS Allowance.

The Coronavirus Supplement will show on the Payment Summary (PS), Payment Detail (PD), One Off Payment (OOP) and One-Time Payment Summary screens. To see a further breakdown of eligibility dates specific for the customer, view the One Time Payment Main Menu (OTPMM). This screen (OTPMM) is only visible via Customer First.

For Farm Household Allowance recipients, the Coronavirus Supplement was paid through the SAP system. The payment will show on the Payment List screen.

ICT changes implemented on 23 May 2020 resulted in the raising of debts Coronavirus Supplement negative adjustments since its implementation.

From 8 August 2020, an additional ICT change was made to make sure that correct offsetting occurs for Coronavirus Supplement.

Staff need to escalate via mySupport, (using the primary payment the customer receives in the search function), if the Coronavirus Supplement:

• was not paid to the customer
• amount paid was incorrect, or
• debts are not offsetting correctly

See the Resources page for a link to mySupport.

See Coronavirus Supplement (CVS) debts for more details on debts.