The instrument operates to specify, in section 7, the COVID-19 pandemic as declared by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020 (the COVID-19 pandemic), as an event for paragraph 408.229(b) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations. The instrument also operates to specify, in sections 8 and 9, the classes of persons for the purposes of paragraph 408.229(c) of Schedule 2 and subparagraph 1237(2)(a)(i) of Schedule 1 to the Regulations. Accordingly, the instrument operates so that a person who is in a specified class of persons is eligible to apply for a Subclass 408 visa in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and with a nil visa application charge.
The purpose of the instrument is to adjust and expand the measure introduced by LIN 20/122 to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has evolved since the measure was initially implemented.
Source: LIN20229.pdf and LIN20229-Explanatory-Statement.pdf