The Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) has received confirmation that a security contractor who worked at Parramatta Local Court has tested positive to COVID-19. As a precaution, anyone who attended Parramatta Local Court between 8.30am and 12.30pm on Tuesday 11 August and Wednesday 12 August should watch for any symptoms. Should even mild symptoms develop, they must self-isolate and seek urgent testing for COVID-19. As a precaution, cleaning of the courthouse took place on Sunday 16 August. Contrary to news reports, the security guard is not a Sheriff’s Officer and was not undertaking temperature checks. DCJ will continue to work closely with NSW Health and carry out all necessary measures to protect the safety of its staff, court users and the community. All close contacts have been identified and are being contacted by NSW Health. NSW has recorded five new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. View all NSW COVID-19 case locations here.

Information on the measures in place at NSW courts and tribunals to reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19 is available here. NSW health has also issued guidelines in relation to the wearing of a face mask in public settings.

Commercial and residential landlords who reduce their tenant’s rent due to COVID-19 for any period between 1 April 2020 and 30 September 2020 may be eligible for land tax relief through the NSW Government’s land tax COVID-19 relief scheme. Changes were made to the scheme last month to make it easier for eligible landlords to apply. The application period has also been extended to 31 December 2020. More information here.

The ATO has implemented changes to the JobKeeper employee eligibility rules following the registration of the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Amendment Rules (No.7) 2020. These changes mean employers already enrolled in JobKeeper may be able to receive the JobKeeper payment for more of their employees. The ATO has released new information on www.ato.gov.au/JobKeeper to further support employers with JobKeeper payments in these difficult times. Importantly, the key date for assessing which employees are eligible for JobKeeper is now 1 July 2020, rather than 1 March 2020. Additionally, employees that meet the eligibility requirements can now be nominated by a new employer if their original employment with a JobKeeper employer ended before 1 July 2020. Employees can still only be nominated by one employer at any given time.

The NSW Government has thanked Commissioner Bret Walker SC and his team for their work on the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Ruby Princess and issued an apology to anyone who experienced any additional hurt, stress and trauma due to the mistakes made by NSW Health. View the report here.

Australians will be among the first in the world to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, if it proves successful, through an agreement between the Australian Government and UK-based drug company AstraZeneca. Under the deal, every single Australian will be able to receive the University of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for free, should trials prove successful, safe and effective. More here.

The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability will hold another public hearing in Sydney tomorrow into the experiences of people with disability during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The hearing room will not be open to the public but the hearing will be live streamed on the Royal Commission website.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released the latest data on the COVID-19 Superannuation Early Release Scheme, from inception of the Scheme to 9 August 2020. View here.

APRA data has revealed that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen the net margin of Australia's health funds fall to a low of 2.8 per cent. This compares with 4.9 per cent in the 12 months to June 2019 and represents a 42 per cent decline in profitability. Health funds paid $21.7 billion in benefits to members for the year ending June 2020. View data here.  

The Australian Government will provide 10 additional Medicare subsidised psychological therapy sessions for people subjected to further restrictions in areas impacted by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. More info here. NSW solicitors can also access up to three psychological counselling sessions per financial year, and 24/7 telephone crisis support with a psychologist, paid for by the Law Society of NSW, via the Society’s Solicitor Outreach Service. Ph 1800 592 296.