COVID-19 JobKeeper: Why NSW Government, council staff won’t access payment
The Federal Government JobKeeper package has been touted as an economic saviour, but hundreds of thousands of NSW residents aren’t eligible for it. Are you one of them?
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Council workers, librarians, administration staff and lifeguards are just some of the thousands of government employees across NSW left in the dark — and in financial ruin — without access to the Federal Government’s JobKeeper COVID-19 lifeline.
More than 45,000 local government employees in councils across the state, and as many a 396,000 state government employees, have been left off the rescue package given the green light in parliament this week — despite urgent calls for public sector employees to be included in the pandemic economic package.
Several council employees Told NewsLocal they feel like “they have fallen through the cracks”.
“It is just plain wrong,” one employee said. “It feels like there is one set of rules for the majority of the country and another set of rules for the public sector.
“I have worked in councils for decades and now the work has dried up, what am I expected to do?”
Local Government NSW president and Sydney councillor Linda Scott said local councils across NSW are haemorrhaging as much as $1.7 million per week as the coronavirus pandemic continues to grip local communities.
Cr Scott said the federal government “voted down an amendment to the JobKeeper legislation” which could have supported thousands of council employees.
“Funding councils is the solution to the nation’s recovery from COVID-19,” Cr Scott said.
“However, without State Government stimulus, we know that councils are facing an almost impossible task in the months ahead.
“We know councils have been terribly hard hit even in this early stage of the COVID-associated economic crisis: Blacktown City Council, in Sydney’s west, is already losing $1.7 million per week — and that’s before the rate notices go out.
“Some regional councils will cease to be able to operate in the coming months.”
Calls for a NSW Government stimulus to support the public sector also come from Shadow Local Government spokesman Greg Warren, who said council employees were “up the creek if they’re stood aside”.
“This means that because the proposed new state and federal governments rental guidelines say that people receiving JobKeeper support shouldn’t be evicted, affected local government employees aren’t even safe from eviction during this crisis,” Mr Warren said.
“Thousands of people in our state with their own families and bills to pay risk falling through the cracks otherwise.”
A NSW Government spokesman said it understood council are facing additional expenses, significant reductions in revenue, and challenges in ensuring the ongoing delivery of important community services as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
“The Government is aware that councils are unable to access the Commonwealth Government’s JobKeeper program and is currently considering the impact it will have on NSW councils.”
When it comes to the hundreds of thousands of people employed directly by the state government, the spokesman said the majority is “on the front line”.
“The NSW Government has longstanding flexible working arrangements which allow employees to keep working for the NSW community, while adjusting to all the changes in our day-to-day life,” he said.