NSW's Dine & Discover Vouchers Are Being Extended Until June 2022
You can use them on takeaway food during lockdown, or wait until Sydney's stay-at-home restrictions end.
When you launch a scheme that's all about getting people out of the house, it obviously isn't going to work as planned when folks are in lockdown. We're talking about the New South Wales Government's Dine & Discover program, of course. It gives the state's residents four $25 vouchers to use at restaurants and entertainment venues — and, in unsurprising news, it has just been extended until Thursday, June 30, 2022.
When Dine & Discover was initially rolled out statewide from mid-March, the COVID-19 situation in Greater Sydney was rather different than it is now; however, the NSW Government actually started pushing back its end date before lockdown started. First, at the beginning of June, the State Government announced that it was extending the program for until the end of July to give people even more time to use their vouchers. Then, at the end of June once lockdown had started, it moved that date again until the end of August.
The latest change to June 2022, which was just announced on Friday, August 13, means that Dine & Discover has now been extended for a full year past its original finish date. Clearly, the hope is that folks in NSW will have plenty of time to go out and use their vouchers once the current outbreak is under control, lockdown ends and most people are vaccinated.
The vouchers still cover takeaways, if you do want to use the two food vouchers now. The NSW Government recommends getting your food delivered direct to your house by whichever restaurant or cafe you're ordering from, but you can also go pick up your meal if you'd prefer — if it's within either five or ten kilometres of your house, depending on the restrictions in your area. Crucially, the vouchers can only be redeemed if you're dealing with the eatery directly, so they can't be used on orders via third-party delivery platforms.
Cassandra Hannagan
By now, every NSW resident should know how the scheme works, but here's the basic details if you need a refresher. The Dine & Discover program hands out food and entertainment vouchers to NSW residents, in an effort to boost patronage at hospitality businesses and cultural institutions that've suffered during the pandemic.
Four vouchers are available to everyone in NSW over the age of 18 — two $25 vouchers to use at restaurants, cafes, clubs and other food venues, and another two $25 vouchers specifically for performing arts, cinemas, amusement parks and the like. The vouchers can be used at a hefty number of participating COVID-safe registered businesses, with the full list available on the Service NSW website. You can't use them on tobacco, alcohol or gambling, and you can only use each voucher once, including if your transaction totals less than $25. Also, you'll need to use all of your vouchers separately.
To access the vouchers, you'll need a MyServiceNSW account — and the corresponding Service NSW app, so you can use the vouchers digitally.
The NSW Government's Dine & Discover scheme will now run until Thursday, June 30, 2022. For more information, visit the government's website.
Top image: Kitti Gould
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