Highlights
- The federal government has provided $160 million in additional funding to nearly 200 charities and community groups to deliver support to people experiencing extreme hardship.
- 160,000 people have received emergency relief through Red Cross Australia.
- Emergency Relief is delivered by 197 providers, with more than 1,300 outlets across Australia where people can access services. The full list is available on the Department of Social Services’ Grants Service Directory.
Temporary visa holders and asylum seekers who aren’t eligible for government payments can access emergency financial assistance if they are experiencing hardship during the current COVID-19 lockdown. Temporary visa holders were left out of the federal government’s JobKeeper program in 2020. This year, the COVID Disaster payments are available to some eligible temporary visa holders who have lost income due to health orders.
However, many are still not covered by this safety net. Red Cross Australia’s Head of Migration Programs, Vicki Mau, says many people are struggling to access basic necessities.
“People who are experiencing family or domestic violence, and we have a lot of people come forward for emergency relief in that situation. So, I just want to make sure that people were aware that if you are experiencing that, that is firstly a legitimate reason to leave home and seek support. But also if you go on to Red Cross website, there’s a specific program to support people again on temporary visas without access to income support or on no visa who are experiencing family violence to get additional support through that.”
