Victoria has recorded 278 new cases and eight deaths overnight. New Zealand has 13 new cases of community transmission linked to the Auckland cluster. In NSW, 12 new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours. A NSW woman in her 80s has died after being diagnosed with COVID-19, bringing the number of deaths in NSW linked to the pandemic to 53. All current NSW Government COVID-19 updates on hotspots, public health alerts and restrictions are available here.

The State Revenue Legislation Amendment (COVID-19 Housing Response) Act 2020 was assented to on 11 August 2020. The Act includes amendments to the Duties Act 1997 to implement changes to the transfer (stamp) duty concessions under the First Home Buyers Assistance scheme, as part of the Government’s COVID-19 response. The new transfer (stamp) duty threshold will be in place for 12 months and applies to contracts executed from 1 August 2020 to 31 July 2021. Read more.

The Revenue NSW website has been updated with more information, including how to apply for the HomeBuilder Grant and the HomeBuilder Grant application form and lodgement guide. Applications must be received by no later than 31 December 2020 and should be lodged via the online portal.

To minimise the need for parties to physically attend NCAT premises, the President introduced updated hearing and filing arrangements in response to the pandemic. NCAT has been conducting all stages of its hearings by phone, audio visual link or on the papers since 30 March 2020. These current arrangements will continue until December 2020. Any further changes to NCAT services will be announced on the NCAT Coronavirus (COVID-19) web page.

NSW courts have upgraded their websites to make it easier to navigate the justice system and make transactions. A new “Pay your Penalty” portal has been launched for the full or part payment of a court penalty. The upgraded websites include:

• Courts and Tribunals
• Local Court
• District Court
• Children’s Court
• Drug Court
• Dust Diseases Tribunal
• Coroners Court
• NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT)
• Uniform Civil Procedures Rules (UCPR)

As part of its COVID-19 response, the NSW Government has changed its NSW hospital fees policy so that Medicare ineligible victims of domestic and family violence – like those on Temporary Protection Visas – will no longer be required to report the crime to police in order to access public hospitals at no cost. More here.

The NSW Government's business advisory service, Business Connect, has launched a  new online toolkit to help businesses as they continue to navigate the challenges of COVID-19. The toolkit includes more than 35 webinars on a range of business-related subjects, fact sheets and training videos. Access here.

NSW residents returning from Victoria will have their hotel quarantine fee waived for the next month to ease the financial burden on returnees. The charge will be waived retrospectively and apply to NSW residents already in hotel quarantine after travelling from Victoria. More here.

The ATO recently reviewed the way it engages with legal practitioners who are representing their clients in relation to tax and superannuation matters. As part of this review, they consulted with legal practitioners to better understand the role they typically play with respect to taxation and superannuation and their priorities and timelines when dealing with the ATO. View the process used for the majority of objections for individual or small business clients here. Further information about objections can be found in the Legal Practitioner objections, amendments and review section on ato.gov.au.

The Special Commission of Inquiry into the Ruby Princess, led by Bret Walker SC, will hand down its findings on Friday 14 August 2020.

The Select Committee on COVID-19 Inquiry into the Australian Government’s response to the pandemic will hold its next public hearing in Canberra on Friday 14 August 2020. The committee is to present its final report on or before 30 June 2022. Tune in to watch the live proceedings here.

The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability has released a Second Progress Report, summarising the work carried out between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2020. The Royal Commission plans to resume its hearing program in Sydney during the week commencing 17 August 2020. The hearing will examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disability. More here.

Seasonally adjusted employment increased by 114,700 people between June and July, and hours worked increased 1.3 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The data shows that 1.01 million Australians were out of work in July. More here.