Australians isolating with COVID-19 have been paid almost $6 million a day in pandemic leave payments since July 20 and the claims are being audited for potential fraud, Government Services Minister Bill Shorten has revealed.
Speaking to Radio National earlier, Shorten would not weigh in on whether the payments should be extended when national cabinet meets tomorrow – but said they have cost $320 million since July 20. Half a million people have claimed up to $750 per isolation period (totaling an average $5.8 million per day).
Minister for Government Services, Bill Shorten. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“That will be a matter for national cabinet to discuss. I can certainly see the argument you’re putting forward if you’re obliged to stay home … there should be some payment,” the minister said, adding that the ongoing cost of the scheme must be “balanced against that”.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will make the case at tomorrow’s meeting that people forced to stay home and miss work must receive financial support if mandatory isolation, reduced from seven to five days late last week, continues.
It has previously been revealed that the payments, which are now split 50:50 between federal and state governments, had cost the federal budget almost $1.9 billion from their inception in August 2020 to July 2022.
Loading
“One of the things which we are doing is making sure that people who are submitting claims are not falsely submitting claims,” Shorten said.
“What happens is that [when] you submit a claim online you have to have proof of a PCR or that you’ve got a … test which the particular state respects.”
The online application form requires people to state that they don’t have any sick leave available, he added.
“If there’s a red flag, that is then checked by a human in Services Australia just to sort of see if the claim should proceed or not. But I think the vast bulk of people are doing the right thing.”
Discussion about this post