Covid-19 funding: PM announces $1.1B health and domestic violence package

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a further $1.1 billion of funding to help Australians through the coronavirus crisis, paying particular attention to health, mental health and emergency relief support.

Speaking in Canberra on Sunday ahead of another National Cabinet meeting, the PM said vulnerable Australians are their priority right now as they work to flatten the curve and prevent further spread of Covid-19.

A whopping $669M has been allocated to telehealth services, and $74 million for mental health support. Those who are self-isolating will be able to call their GP, nurse, mental health practitioner or allied health professional from the comfort and safety of their own home.

A total of $150 million will also go towards domestic violence services and $200 million for emergency relief support including organisations such as Foodbank, the Salvation Army and St Vincent DePaul.

On top of this Morrison said they will be moving to provide further income support for those who face unemployment, with measures currently being discussed within the government to help those most in need as soon as possible. However, he said it does take some work as they can’t  just “cut and paste someone else’s system” and want to ensure it’s done correctly.

“We will also be working to provide further income support, the treasurer and I have been working together with Treasury and other officials night and day over recent days to ensure we can provide further boosted income support across the Australian economy,” Morrison said on Sunday.

“We are being very careful to ensure that income support can be delivered in a way that gets it to people as quickly as possible using the existing systems we have.”

Meanwhile, Morrison also touched on the slow of cases recorded of late as more Aussies move to self-isolate and practice social distancing. He said they’ve seen a decrease from around 25 per cent per day a week ago to around 13 to 15 per cent today.