Greens COVID-19 detailed responses:

🏘 Rent and Mortgage holidays

Rent and Mortgage holidays

We've heard from tens of thousands of people who fear they will be kicked onto the streets and we're deeply concerned about the half-measures in place around keeping people in housing.

"Everyone needs a home."

This simple, universal truth is the opening line in the letter sent by Adam Bandt and Senator Mehreen Faruqi to the PM, State and Territory leaders last week.

Millions will struggle to pay rents and mortgages in the months ahead. We can't allow people to be evicted into homelessness or left with crippling debt — especially during a pandemic.

The Tasmanian Greens secured a 120 day ban on evictions in Tasmania (on the 25/03/2020), and a day earlier, the Greens NSW secured special powers for the Housing Minister to step in to stop evictions. By Sunday 29 March, agreement had been reached for a national moratorium on residential and commercial evictions. This is people power 💪

We're keeping the pressure up for a national response:
💚 rent & mortgage holidays
💚 $ for homeless services

We need rent holidays and mortgage holidays and a ban on evictions right now to ensure that people can keep a roof over their heads.

Yes, everyone needs a home »

Published 27/03/2020 | Updated: 29/3/2020

👩‍⚕️ Pandemic health plan

COVID-19 Pandemic Health Plan response

Australia faces an unprecedented public health threat with the outbreak of COVID-19. This is a time to show solidarity and take the necessary actions as a community to ensure that no one is left behind.

The Australian Greens are closely monitoring the rapidly evolving situation, and encourage all Australians to follow the available advice on the Health Department website.

At this time, clarity of the information to the Australian public is of critical importance.

The National Cabinet of state, territory premiers and the commonwealth must act swiftly and decisively on the advice it receives from the public health experts and chief medical officers, and provide clear, up to date information to the Australian public about the evolving situation. We will support the National Cabinet as a single source of information and advice so long as it is led by the advice of experts.

Australia’s health system is under strain, and it is clear that this crisis will result in a significant peak in patients requiring acute care in our hospital system. The number of intensive care beds will be the key to how many people die in the crisis.

Access to personal protective equipment (PPE) for our frontline health workers is of critical importance, and the current shortage is a serious concern. We are calling on the government to urgently guarantee the supply of all necessary PPE for our health workers so that they are not left at increased risk of infection as they go about their essential work saving Australian lives.  

Australians are now being urged to get their flu shot early to ensure they are not hit with the double effects of influenza and COVID-19. The Greens are calling on the government to make the flu shot free for everyone so that it’s not just available to those who can afford it.

COVID 19 will impact older people disproportionately but people of all ages can get seriously ill from the virus. If our health system is overwhelmed by COVID 19, it threatens our ability to respond adequately to other medical emergencies such as heart attacks or other illnesses.

The Australian Greens are calling on the government to ensure that no one is left behind as they deal with the consequences of the coronavirus. 

First published 17/3/2020 | Updated: 04/2/2020

☂️ Centrelink changes — to create a social safety net for everyone

Centrelink - changes that create a social safety net for everyone

As the crisis continues, as many as 1 in 10 Australians will lose their jobs, as entire sectors of the economy shut down in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

In the face of this unprecedented crisis, we have to urgently strengthen our social safety net to make sure that no one is left behind.

For years, the Liberal government has prioritised the profits made by their big corporate mates over delivering services for the people they are meant to represent. They’ve cut away at our income support systems, they’ve ripped funding out of healthcare, and chronically underfunded our hospitals and they’ve targeted people who need assistance. They’ve left millions of Australians living below the poverty line. 

In the face of this crisis, when more people need assistance than ever, we are seeing enormous cracks in our health and social safety net systems. Right now, the government is scrambling to create services and safety nets – these services should already exist.

Centrelink is not fit for purpose and currently lacks the capacity to adequately deal with an increased workload resulting from the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.

People can’t afford to wait weeks to receive their payment, the economy is in crisis right now. People are in crisis now.
That’s why we need a substantial increase in Centrelink staffing capacity, a suspension of mutual obligation requirements, cancellation of Robodebt, and the waiving of both the liquid assets test and other waiting periods to ensure that people can quickly access the support they need to weather this crisis.

 

The Greens and community organisations have pressured the government into making  significant changes to Centrelink support since the beginning of the crisis:

✅ Increased support for people on Newstart (JobSeeker) will now receive a temporary COVID-19 supplement. We'll continue to fight to make increased income support payments permanent.

✅ Students on Youth Allowance, Austudy and Abstudy, originally excluded from the COVID-19 supplement, are now eligible.

✅ Attending Centrelink-manded 'Mutual Obligations' temporarily suspended – attending  appointments/activities is optional from Monday 23/3/2020 until 27/4/2020. Payments will NOT be suspended if you can’t attend because you’re physical distancing.

✅ No new people added to the Cashless Debit Card "Trial"

We are still putting pressure on the Government to:

• People on Disability Support (DSP) and the Carer Payment must also receive the $550/ftnight COVID-19 supplement
   
• Pause all mutual obligation requirements indefinitely for all people until the virus is contained, including jobactive, ParentsNext, and Community Development Program participants.
   
• Raise Rent Assistance rates
   
• Cancel all robodebts and repay and compensate victims
   
• Expedite processing times for income support applications for those who are sick, have been in contact with someone who is sick, or needs to care for someone who is sick
   
• Ensure students do not have a disruption in payments if University and TAFE are not providing alternative ways to learn, or classes are cancelled or postponed
   
• Ensure no $750 payments are quarantined on the Cashless Debit Card - they should be paid directly into people’s bank accounts.
   
• An additional payment for families with children whose primary income is social security
   
• Provide access to income support for temporary visa holders – about 1.5 million people in Australia on temporary visas, and the Government has an urgent responsibility to provide income support for those who need it.

Now more than ever we need a social security system that supports everyone.

 
Updated: 29/3/2020

👩‍👧‍👦 Reducing domestic and family violence — during the coronavirus crisis

Reducing family violence during the coronavirus crisis

Quarantining at home can put women and children living with violence further at risk. Google searches for domestic violence assistance are at a five-year peak and some services are already reporting an increase in demand.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the Government must do more to fund the frontline services that protect people experiencing family violence.

Everyone deserves to feel safe at home. But experience overseas shows that being at home during the COVID-19 crisis can put some women and children at higher risk of abuse from violent or controlling partners.

In the coming months, financial pressures, anxiety, restricted access to friends and family, and lack of escape options will mean that some women and children are not safe at home.

Domestic and family violence services are already under strain and need significant additional resources. The COVID-19 crisis will increase demand and change the way that assistance can be provided.

The Greens welcome the announcement of additional funding for domestic violence counselling and referral services during this crisis, but warn more targeted funding is essential to create extra capacity.

“Helping victims to understand their options and the services available to them is critical. But without extra funding for the already stretched services women are being sent to, more referrals just creates more unmet demand."

“The scale of government assistance for frontline services supporting survivors of family and domestic violence does not meet the demand fuelled by self-isolation during the Covid-19 crisis.”

“An additional $150 million to a referral and counselling phone line is inadequate when experts say housing (both crisis and long-term), legal support and policing is needed."
– Greens Senate Leader and spokesperson on Women, Senator Larissa Waters.

The Government must make sure that women and children fleeing dangerous situations have somewhere to turn.

The Australian Greens are calling on the government to:

• Urgently fund crisis accommodation
• Waive time limits on accessing crisis accommodation to ensure women and children can safely self-isolate for a minimum of 14 days
• Urgently increase funding for frontline domestic and family violence services to respond to increased and changing demands by:
  • increasing staff;
  • implementing public health protocols;
  • investing in new technology to allow remote advice and support services to be delivered safely and securely.
• Increase funding for Safe at Home programs
• Work with the COAG Women’s Safety Council to ensure specialist domestic and family violence police officers are available to oversee DVO / AVO applications and enforcement.

To get through this crisis we all need to work together and find ways to ensure everyone is safe from violence.

First published 23/03/2020 | Updated 28/03/2020

COVID-19 coronavirus health
information in-language:

Not all communities have had easy-to-access information provided in-language. Please share these on social media, or download and print a copy.