Supporting Casual Workers During Coronavirus-6th May 2020

The Victorian Government will support thousands more Victorians who have lost work due to coronavirus and ensure they are redeployed doing jobs our community needs to stay safe and rebuild from the pandemic. Restrictions to slow the spread of the virus and keep us safe have had a significant impact on businesses and workers, and public sector organisations are not immune – with many employees losing employment overnight.

Under Commonwealth Government guidelines, casual public sector workers such as swimming pool lifeguards or staff at the Melbourne Aquatic Centre, ticket staff at the Melbourne Museum or the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre or park staff at the Royal Botanic Gardens are ineligible for the JobKeeper program.

The Victorian Government will fix this by making sure these workers can access their usual fortnightly payments of up to $1500 before tax, up until the end of September, provided they are happy to be redeployed to other public sector roles where demand for more resources is high, such as healthcare.

The package will support 3,000 workers and, unlike the Jobkeeper program, it will be available to workers regardless of their age whether they are an Australian Citizen or not. Public sector casual workers will be eligible for the payment regardless of their length of service.

Those public sector casual workers who participate in the Jobs and Skills Exchange will still be able to pick up additional work without jeopardising their fortnightly payments.

The Government has already extended the contracts of fixed-term public service employees who are caught up in the coronavirus crisis.

South Gippsland Council have been asked if this applies to any Council employed workers. We await their response.