Renters, businesses and landlords were left with plenty of questions after Friday's National Cabinet meeting did not provide a solution to their coronavirus financial struggles.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It had been hoped there would be an announcement on rental assistance, but when asked, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was still being discussed.
Read more
"The Commonwealth provides rental assistance and more and more people are coming onto rental assistance for the simple fact that they've lost employment," he said.
"They're coming onto the job seeker payment, which gives them entitlement to rental assistance, so there will be a lot of supports that come into that.
"It is an an issue that is high priority, just like childcare, and they're complicated issues in many respects and we've got to work through them to get the right answers - it is high on the list.
"The treasures of all the states and territories, working under our treasurer leading that process, are looking at exactly what you're talking about."
Many businesses across the country were this week had either been closed in line with government restrictions or were weighing up their options with a shrinking number of customers.
Chief executive of Albury real estate company Jack Stean said the situation had been described as "the big freeze".
"I think everything is just going to stop for however long it needs to," he said.
"There's a lack of confidence out there ... People are just trying to figure out where everything sits."
He said people were looking at homes through virtual tours and private appointments, for now.
"It's a really changing world, but we've had a good month in sales and even last week, things were still going through," Mr Stean said.
The company is still finding rental homes for nurses, doctors and others coming into the region, and even house sales were continuing, but more in the form of finding people exactly what they are looking for because open homes had been banned.
Mr Stean said that while some commercial businesses had asked for concessions because they were not making money, people renting homes understood they needed to pay rent.
"People are understanding that they're in someone else's house, they can get good government assistance if they have lost their job," he said.
He said he accepted the government was under pressure, but the most important thing was getting financial help to people quickly.