6 May 2020
COVID-19 Timeline
What’s happened in the Australian banking sector during the coronavirus pandemic.
2020
![](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Coronoavirus-thumbnail-735x405.jpg)
February 14: coronavirus assistance offered
![COVID 19 Relief](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/covid-hero@2x.jpg)
February 14: ABA COVID-19 assistance hub created
![Banks respond to second government stimulus package](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Second-StimulusWebsiteThumbnail.jpg)
March 11: Government announces first stimulus package of $17.6B
![Banks Small Business Relief Package](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rescue-Package-Website-Thumbnail.jpg)
March 20: small business relief package announced featuring 6 month deferrals
![Woman at computer with child](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/covid-resources@2x-1.jpg)
March 20: mortgage relief announced – 6 month deferrals available for homeowners
![Banks respond to second government stimulus package](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Second-StimulusWebsiteThumbnail.jpg)
March 22: Government announces second stimulus package of $66B
![Covid-19-FAQ-Relief](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Covid-19-FAQ-Releif-Thumbnail.jpg)
March 25: COVID-19 FAQs published
![](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Commercial-Property-Relief-Version2.jpg)
March 30: business relief extended to landlords and renters
![](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Contactless-Thumbnail-735x405-1.jpg)
April 3: contactless payments to increase from $100 to $200
![Jobkeeper](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Jobkeeper-Thumbnail735x405.jpg)
April 5: banks support JobKeeper – credit available to bridge gap till payments begin in May
![Credit Score OK](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Credit-Score-Thumbail-735-x405.jpg)
April 6: credit scores secured – COVID-19 deferrals will not affect credit ratings
![SME Loan Guarantee](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/SME-Guarantee-Thumbnail-735x405-1.jpeg)
April 8: SME loan guarantee begin – 50% govt-guaranteed loans, no repayments for 6 months
![Jobkeeper Bank Hotlines Now Open](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/JobKeeper-Hotline-Thumbnail-735-x-405.jpg)
April 24: dedicated JobKeeper business hotlines open
![CovidSafe App](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/COVIDSafe-App-Thumbnail-735-x-405.jpg)
April 26: Bank CEOs support COVIDSafe app – will download app and encourage staff to do same
![Debit Cards are Secure](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Debit-Card-Delivery-Thumbnail-735x405-1.jpg)
April 29: voluntary debit cards for passbook holders announced
![Protect yourself against scams](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Scamwatch-Thumbnail-735-x-405.jpg)
April 29: COVID-19 anti-scam hub updated, fact sheets in 12 translations
![Woman at computer with child](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/covid-resources@2x-1.jpg)
May 8: 100,000 extra COVID-19 loan deferrals in a week – brings total to 643,000
![Mortgages deferred by banks now pass 429000](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/400k-mortgagesWebsite-Thumbnail-735-x-405.jpg)
May 16: 1 in 14 mortgages have now been deferred – 429,000 in total
2021
![SME Loan Guarantee](https://www.ausbanking.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/SME-Guarantee-Thumbnail-735x405-1.jpeg)
Mar 11: New expanded and extended SME loan scheme good for small business 80/20, 24 month deferrals, $250M turnover
Latest news
Georgie Tunny: Anna Bligh is CEO of the Australian Banking Association. And we’ve heard so many examples of scammers infiltrating customers existing phone message threads from banks. If people can’t trust the bank’s own correspondence, what hope do they have? Anna Bligh: The stories that you’ve run this week have been absolutely heartbreaking. And I hear… Read more »
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) welcomes the Federal Government’s upcoming campaign to further educate the community about elder abuse. ABA CEO Anna Bligh said this was a timely opportunity to further raise awareness and shine the spotlight on financial elder abuse. “Australian banks are deeply conscious of financial elder abuse. They see it playing out every day and have… Read more »
Major disruptions to payments systems as a result of the CrowdStrike outage have not occurred and are not anticipated. Impacts on banks and payments systems have been relatively minor, with any disruptions having already been remedied or in the process of being gradually restored. Banks will continue to monitor for any further impacts to services…. Read more »