Temporary Visa Holder Government Financial Support in Australia.

I initially thought that I am not going to be affected by the Australian CoVid 19 lockdown because I was chosen to stay and work while the other staff is gone stand down already. We don't have many guests as I was actually serving less than 10 rooms of room service breakfast during my last week of working. Restriction announcement has gone really strict day by day until they announced the lockdown and the travel ban. 

The travel ban made my hotel shut down and because of that I also need to be standing down.  My company is good as they are always sending as information to stay on the positivity, they even gave us some job opportunities in another company.

The majority of my colleague are Australians and Permanent residents who are the priority of the Government to have access to Government financial support. They actually have three options:

Jobseeker Payment. Is the government financial help (Centrelink) for people who are looking for work. As many people are losing their job, the jobseeker payment is their financial help option.

Jobkeeper Payment. This is government financial help to the employee through the employers. The government is encouraging the essential establishment to keep on going and keep the employees working, to help the economy going.

Superannuation. Superannuation is design to be a retirement plan but because of the pandemic, the government allows the worker to access it.

There are millions of temporary visa holders in Australia, they are international students, working holidaymakers, skilled workers, etc. I am also on a temporary visa, and the government of Australia allowed us to access our Superannuation in case we need it.

In the beginning, The Australian Government advises the Temporary Visa Holders to go home if they are are not capable of supporting themselves for the next six months. The government created a visa arrangement for temporary visa holders that are working in critical sectors like health care, agriculture, and other essentials. More info for temporary visa holders.

Each Australian state has its own way of helping and supporting the temporary visa holders.

Government, organizations, and families are doing their initiative to help people who are in need. Being a Filipino, the Philippine government through the Philippine embassy gave us one-time financial support amounting to around 200 US dollars to both qualified Overseas Filipino Workers. 

House rent is probably the biggest burden if you do not have income in Australia, the cheapest shared room in Sydney is A$125 a week. Food is affordable, I can comfortably survive with A$25 food allowance a week. 

Youtube Lockdown Series

Temporary Visa Holders Government Support in Australia is available also on the website of each countries embassy in Australia. here are some of them.

Philippine Embassy. 

Italy

Vietnam