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Paid pandemic leave extended indefinitely

PM Anthony Albanese says he is the 'economically literate' leader of a government with the tools and will to fight inflation. <i>Photo: Getty</i>

PM Anthony Albanese says he is the 'economically literate' leader of a government with the tools and will to fight inflation. Photo: Getty Photo: Getty

National cabinet has agreed to an indefinite extension of paid pandemic leave for COVID-positive workers.

The payments for infected people while they are away from work were set to expire at the end of the month.

But in a major agreement reached at the latest meeting between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and state and territory leaders on Wednesday, they will remain as long as mandatory isolation periods are required for those who catch the virus.

Mr Albanese said the payments would be shared 50-50 between the Commonwealth and states and territories.

“We remain obviously of the view that if people are sick, whether from COVID or from other health issues, they should not be at work and that is important,” he said in Sydney.

“The government has a responsibility to provide support during that period for the appropriate period which is designated.”

So far $2.2 billion have been paid out in pandemic leave since the scheme began. It was initially due to expire at the beginning of July but were extended to September following backlash and a rise in COVID cases.

Mr Albanese said there was “some evidence” of people defrauding the payment scheme.

Services Australia data indicated that about 13 per cent of claims were from people who had sought the payment more than four times – “that is a claim every 6.5 weeks or more”, he said.

Overall, about 2.6 per cent of claims automatically triggered fraud checks, and about 15 per cent of those led to claims being withdrawn.

Under the deal struck on Wednesday, claims will be limited to a maximum of three payments over six months, except in extraordinary cases. The payment will remain at a maximum of $540 for people required to isolate for five days.

Mr Albanese said there would be no change yet to isolation requirements of five days for most symptomatic COVID cases and seven days for workers in high-risk settings.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews had been strong proponents of payments continuing while isolation remained a requirement for those with the virus.

Mr Albanese said any move to shorter isolation periods was not discussed in detail at Wednesday’s meeting. However, it is likely to be on the agenda when he and first ministers meet in person in a fortnight.

“What we are seeing is gradually a move towards COVID being treated like other health issues,” he said.

That discussion will come as other nations also further loosen rules imposed earlier in the pandemic.

Mr Albanese said infections in aged care in Australia had declined to just a quarter of their peak in July.

“We will have a discussion about future arrangements on the 30 September when the national cabinet will meet in person,” he said.

Elsewhere, Victorian independent MP Monique Ryan has called for a summit on the management of COVID.

Dr Ryan, who was a medical researcher and paediatric neurologist before entering parliament, said she was concerned mitigation strategies to combat the virus were being rolled back.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty and anxiety about the fact that the government seems to have been winding back the mitigation strategies … without really a plan for how this is going to affect people going forward,” she told ABC Radio on Wednesday.

“The reality is COVID is still with us … pretending that it’s going away or that it has gone away, it’s just not working for people.”

Dr Ryan said a summit could examine how coronavirus infections should be handled in coming years, amid concerns the upcoming northern hemisphere winter will bring more subvariants.

Mr Albanese said he respected Dr Ryan’s views.

“Chief health officers throughout the jurisdictions are working very hard on all of these issues, including examining long COVID … [and] the potential of what will occur in the northern winter,” he said.

– with AAP

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