COVID-19 INFORMATION AND GOVERNMENT UPDATES

22 MAY, 2020

๐—™๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—•๐—ผ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐˜€: ๐—”๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—–๐—ข๐—ฉ๐—œ๐——-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต

If you or someone who knows a temporary visa holder who is experiencing financial difficulties during this COVID-19 period, you can apply for a food box through the Migrant Resource Centre Tasmania.

MRC Tas has been given a generous donation to provide free fresh and dried food boxes to people living in Hobart and surrounding suburbs who are experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 (available to temporary visa holders and other migrants).

For more information and to register for this service, please call MRC Tasmania on 03 6221 0999 or email reception@mrctas.org.au.

Source: https://mrctas.org.au/food-boxes-available-to-people-experโ€ฆ/

#EquinoxEducation #EEC #Tasmania #StrongerTogether#StrongerTasmania

21 MAY, 2020

Assisting Tasmanian renters during COVID-19

The Tasmanian Government is committed to supporting all Tasmanians through the difficulties faced as a result of COVID-19.

The establishment of the COVID-19 Rent Relief Fund will ensure targeted support of up to $2000 or four weeks rent is available for tenants suffering from extreme hardship.

COVID-19 Rent Reliefโ€“ Fact Sheet for Tenants: https://www.communities.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/89721/COVID19-rent-reflief-payment-tenant-fact-sheet.pdf

More information: http://www.premier.tas.gov.au/releases/assisting_tasmanian_renters_during_covid-19

#EquinoxEducation #EEC #Tasmania#StrongerTogether #StrongerTasmania

18 MAY, 2020

๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ข๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐— ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿด ๐— ๐—ฎ๐˜†.

Keep following the rules so we can keep Tasmania safe during the recovery phase.โฃ
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For more information visitย www.coronavirus.tas.gov.auโฃ
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Source: @petergutweinmp

#EEC #EquinoxEducation #Hobart #Tasmania#StaySafe #StrongerTasmania โ€” in Hobart, Tasmania.

10 MAY, 2020

Tasmania's Roadmap to Recovery

The Tasmanian Government has announced a COVID-19 Roadmap to ease restrictions in the state. It will take everyone to work together and follow the rules to rebuild a stronger Tasmania.โฃ
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For more information visit https://coronavirus.tas.gov.au/families-community/roadmap-to-recoveryโฃ
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Source: https://www.facebook.com/petergutweinmp/photos/a.1710247719193660/2569383043280119/?type=3&theater

#EquinoxEducation #EEC #Tasmania#StrongerTogether #StrongerTasmania

05 MAY, 2020

COVIDSafe app: Let's work together to stop the spread of COVID-19

The COVIDSafe app helps find close contacts of COVID-19 cases. The app helps state and territory health officials to quickly contact people who may have been exposed to COVID-19.

The COVIDSafe app speeds up the current manual process of finding people who have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19. This means youโ€™ll be contacted more quickly if you are at risk. This reduces the chances of you passing on the virus to your family, friends and other people in the community.

For more information please visit:ย https://www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/covidsafe-app

#EEC #EquinoxEducation #COVID19 #staysafe #stay #home #COVIDSafe #app

29 APRIL, 2020

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—š๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—จ๐—ฝ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐——๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐˜€, ๐—ป๐—ผ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜€!

There may be tough times, but the difficulties which you face will make you more determined to achieve your objectives and to win against all the odds.โฃ
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We understand the apprehensive moment that students and temporary residents are feeling now. HOWEVER, it is imperative that you realize the characteristics including mental strength, patience, commitment, courage, intelligence, work ethics, resilience, to name a few that led you to live and survive in a foreign country. These qualities will help you get through the difficult times in Australia and, if we can survive this catastrophe, together we would be stronger than ever. ๐™’๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™™๐™ค๐™š๐™จ๐™ฃ’๐™ฉ ๐™ ๐™ž๐™ก๐™ก ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™ข๐™–๐™ ๐™š๐™จ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™š๐™ง, ๐™ง๐™ž๐™œ๐™๐™ฉ? ๐Ÿ’™
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We’re all in this together and we’ll get through this! You can count on us and we will try to help you as much as possible, as always.โฃ
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#EEC #EquinoxEducation #Hobart #StrongerTogether #StaySafe#COVID19

22 APRIL, 2020

๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ง๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ฉ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐—›๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—š๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜

๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—š๐˜‚๐˜๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ป, ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ

The Tasmanian Governmentโ€™s number one priority is to keep Tasmanians safe from coronavirus and we will also not turn our back on temporary visa holders in our State.We understand there are a significant number of temporary visa holders in Tasmania who have lost their jobs due to the restrictions in place to protect Tasmanians, and we know they are experiencing hardship and income loss as a result.

We have an estimated 26,000 temporary visa holders in Tasmania including students, fruit pickers and skilled workers such as chefs and health workers. In some cases due to business closures and the restrictions we have in place their incomes have now been stopped or have been severely curtailed.

Whilst not all temporary visa holders are in this position a number are and therefore to ensure temporary visa holders are also supported at this time, I am announcing a four step process to assist those who are affected.

Firstly we will immediately extend the eligibility for Pandemic Isolation Assistance Grants, if they can demonstrate genuine financial hardship as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This will provide an ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ $๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜‚๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ผ $๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜†.

Secondly, we will provide additional ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ป-๐—ด๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ณ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ.

Thirdly, whilst many of these visa holders will be unable to return to their home country due to border restrictions this is not the case in every circumstance, and for those whose country is safe to return to we will ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ผ.

Further, we will work with industry sectors or employers who want to ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐˜€ in the State for when their business is able to start up again and provide additional support in partnership with them so that we donโ€™t lose skilled workers that we need.

๐—จ๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ผ $๐Ÿฏ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ.

We know that many Tasmanian businesses have benefited from employing temporary skilled visa holders, and those on other types of temporary visas also make a significant contribution to our economy, particularly to the tourism and education sectors.

The impacts of coronavirus have been widespread and there are many people doing it tough right now. We are committed to further consultation with key industry sectors to determine if there are any additional needs, because we strongly believe the support we provide to temporary workers and international students now will directly affect how these sectors recover post-pandemic.

For information on emergency support, such as the Pandemic Isolation Assistance Grants, visit: www.coronavirus.tas.gov.au/โ€ฆ/emergency-support-for-vulnerabโ€ฆ.

To register your interest in support to return to your country of origin, call the public health hotline on 1800 671 738 by 23 May 2020.

Source: https://www.coronavirus.tas.gov.au/โ€ฆ/support-for-temporary-โ€ฆ

#EEC #EquinoxEducation #Tasmanian #Government #Tasmania#COVID19

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APRIL 18, 2020

Early access of Superannuation

International students who have been in Australia for longer than 12 months, and need financial support, can access their Australian Superannuation.

International students will be able to apply for early release of your superannuation from ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ ๐—”๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—น ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ.

You can submit an application on the myGov website, where you will be asked to fill out a self-assessment and make a legal declaration of your eligibility. You donโ€™t necessarily have to provide evidence of your eligibility.

After youโ€™ve submitted your application the ATO will assess it, and if youโ€™re deemed eligible your super fund will be directed to release the funds. This should take about five days.

โˆŽ For more information, see the announcement:
www.ministers.dese.gov.au/tehan/message-international-students or
www.australia.gov.au

โˆŽ Higher education relief package – FAQ:
www.dese.gov.au/covid-19/higher-education/higher-education-faq?fbclid=IwAR25p6LvaAe2KGvNOkLDNRd7iY3jqw53txFuHAKhZ_CEJawHQGdjQZ0VD20

#EEC#EquinoxEducation#Tasmania#Internationalstudents#superannuation #early#access #COVID19

APRIL 03, 2020

๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—–๐—ข๐—ฉ๐—œ๐——-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€

The Tasmanian Government is committed to keeping Tasmanians safe and secure through the challenges faced by the coronavirus pandemic.The Government has this morning issued a Notice under Section 22 of the COVID-19 Disease (Emergency Provisions) Act 2020 (COVID-19 Act) to prevent residential rental evictions.

  • This will mean that evictions cannot occur for at least the next 90 days.
  • The Notice protects residential tenants, particularly those who are experiencing hardship from a loss of income as a result of COVID-19.
  • These are not changes the Government has made lightly – they are being undertaken because of the widespread impact of COVID-19 on our community.
  • This is not an opportunity to avoid paying rent. If you are able to do so, you should keep payments up.
  • If tenants cannot pay their rent, they should, in the first instance, talk to their landlord to see if rent is able to be reduced.
  • The Government has also made changes to limit property inspections and certain repairs from taking place to support social distancing.

Source: Elise Archer, Minister for Building and Construction

For more information please visit:ย https://coronavirus.tas.gov.au/media-releases/protection-for-residential-tenants-during-covid-19-crisis

#EquinoxEducationย #Tasmaniaย #COVID19#coronavirusย #rentย #stayย #homeย #stayย 

APRIL 01, 2020

๐—” ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฆ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜€๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐˜†๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฎ

A number of Tasmanian-based international students may not be able to travel to or return to Tasmania for their studies due to the current coronavirus travel restrictions.

You may be concerned that this will impact your ability to meet the study and residence requirements for Tasmanian Graduate nomination.

Affected students will not be disadvantaged where the travel ban prevents you from meeting the Tasmanian Graduate category study requirements.

Source: https://www.migration.tas.gov.au/news/skilled_work_regional_visa_491

Please keep up to date with news from the Australian Government: https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/

The Department of Home Affairs website has extensive information regarding the travel restrictions, including fact sheets for student visa holders and applicants: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/news-media/archive/article?itemId=355

#EquinoxEducation #EEC #Tasmania #State#Nomination

MARCH 31, 2020

Stay informed on Coronavirus with the Australian Government Coronavirus WhatsApp channel

Stay up-to-date with the latest information and advice through the new Australian Government Coronavirus WhatsApp channel

A new WhatsApp channel has also been launched to supply you with the latest information.

To access it go to: www.aus.gov.au/whatsapp

#EquinoxEducation #EEC #COVID19 #Australia#Tasmania #stay #home #save #life

MARCH 25, 2020

๐—–๐—ข๐—ฉ๐—œ๐——-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต: ๐—œ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ณ๐˜†๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ผ๐—บ๐˜€

Identify the symptoms of coronavirus and how they compare to the common cold and influenza.

Read more: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-identifying-the-symptoms

Source: Australian Government Department of Health

#EquinoxEducation #EEC #COVID19 #Australia#Tasmania #stay #home #save #life

MARCH 19, 2020

๐—ง๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฎ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐˜†

โ—‰ Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein says the state will introduce the “toughest border measures in the country” to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

  • From midnight on Friday, all “non-essential” travellers into the state will have to go into 14 days quarantine.
  • “Essential” travellers included people required to keep the state’s health system and trade operational.
  • The restriction may not automatically apply for people travelling for medical treatment.
    Failure to self-quarantine could attract $16,800 fine or up to six months in prison.
  • Tasmania has had 10 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

#COVID2019AU #australialockdown #Tasmania#EquinoxEducation #staysafe #stay #strong

Source: https://buff.ly/2m8fYYTโ€ฆ/coronavirus-tasmanian-preโ€ฆ/12069764

MARCH 17, 2020

๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—”๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜: ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—›๐˜†๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฒ

The best thing we can do to keep ourselves healthy is to make sure we are washing our hands and not touching our faces.

It is recommended to do the following:

  • adopting strict hand washing protocols
  • limiting personal contact
  • reminding everyone to use their elbow to cover their nose and mouth when they sneeze
  • cleaning hard surfaces, such as door handles, keyboards and desks.


ย To stay up-to-date: Visit the Australian Government Department of Health website at www.health.gov.au

Call the National Coronavirus Information Line on 1800 020 080

Visit the Department of Education website: https://www.education.tas.gov.au/about-us/alerts/

#EquinoxEducation #EEC #coronavirus #covid19#staysafe #Tasmania #stay #strong

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