(6 Apr 2020) The Australian Library and Information Service (ALIA) has announced it will set up a relief fund ‘specifically to help members who are experiencing a reduction in income as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic’.
ALIA said it would seed the fund with $10,000, enabling it to make approximately 20 payments to members suffering financial hardship.
‘The fund will not be sufficient to cover lost income, but it can be called on for essential items—rent, insurance, groceries, and so on—up to $500 per member.’
The fund is available to full- or part-time workers, but is ‘most likely to benefit casual staff whose hours are reduced or lost through reductions in services or complete library closures,’ ALIA said, adding that anyone who has been an ALIA personal member for at least 12 months would be eligible.
ALIA said payments would be approved by a sub-committee of the ALIA board on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis. ‘We will not make judgements about whose need is greatest,’ said ALIA.
More information is available at the ALIA website
