Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

The principal purpose of the coronavirus supplement is to provide assistance to those Australians whose principal reason for being unemployed is that they have lost the job. That means it applies to jobseeker payment and all of the payments that have been rolled into jobseeker payment from Newstart—including sickness benefit, which is one of the most topical ones of recent days. It also applies to youth allowance (other), which is young people who are currently working and may lose their job. It also applies to special benefit, farm household allowance and parenting payment both single and double.

As I said, the purpose of the package that was announced yesterday was clearly twofold: to address those people who have become unemployed and whose principal reason for being on a payment is that they have lost their job; and to make sure we are supporting business to remain in business and remain connected to those employees over the period of this coronavirus crisis so that they are ready to go back to work when it's over.