Keeping SA
Safe and Strong
During COVID-19

We will continue our strong response to managing the global pandemic – driving high vaccination rates and reducing the health impact while protecting local jobs.

What we've done

By working together with the people of South Australia, the Marshall Liberal Government has kept South Australians safe and our economy strong during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our swift and decisive action saved lives and jobs. In fact, SA Health modelling shows that, without the measures we took 4,400 people would have died from COVID-19 in the first wave alone and we would have had 30-40,000 daily cases during the Omicron outbreak.

Now, more than 90% of South Australians aged 12 years and over are double vaccinated and we lead the nation in booster shots – providing essential protection against severe disease and allowing us to live with fewer restrictions and more certainty.

Omicron was a game changer, but we moved quickly to support businesses and jobs impacted by density restrictions with a significant financial support package for hospitality and tourism businesses, gyms and CBD businesses.

Since the Omicron variant was identified we have provided $158 million in additional direct financial support and stimulus measures for impacted businesses. And of course, as we always did, we did not leave restrictions in place one day more than necessary.

Our actions to keep South Australians safe include:

Acting on expert health advice
Setting up coronavirus testing clinics
Securing RATs, PPE, ventilators and other health equipment
Upskilling and growing our health workforce
Increasing capacity in hospitals and ICUs
Setting up a quarantine and medi-hotel system
Increasing SA Health and SAPOL resources

Our actions to keep South Australia’s economy strong include:

Not keeping restrictions in place one day longer than necessary
$158 million in cash grants and stimulus measure to support affected businesses since Omicron
$500 million in payroll and land tax relief
Multiple rounds of Great State Vouchers which have generated $94.5 million for hospitality and tourism businesses
Another 160,000 Great State Vouchers following Omicron
Helping businesses keep their doors open and people in jobs with a $4 billion stimulus package
Over $1 billion to create jobs immediately by upgrading schools, roads and other infrastructure

There’s still more work to be done but our economic recovery plan is working. South Australia is now the fastest growing economy in the nation, unemployment rates are at record lows and we have been named the most liveable place in Australia.

What it means for you

South Australia has been one of the safest places in the world during Covid-19.
We had the least days in lockdown of any mainland state.
More jobs and a stronger local economy despite the global pandemic

Policy snapshot

We worked together with all South Australians, listened to the health advice and prevented our hospital system from being overwhelmed.
We continue to support affected businesses through vouchers, cash grants, stimulus measures, tax relief and not leaving restrictions in place one day longer than necessary.
Our economic recovery plan is working with South Australia recently recording its lowest unemployment rate on record.

Download full policy (PDF)

We will continue our strong response to managing the global pandemic – driving high vaccination rates and reducing the health impact while protecting local jobs.