A significant proportion of Bali’s residents rely on domestic and international tourism for income. With the COVID-19 pandemic all but bringing an end to tourism for now, many people’s livelihoods have been significantly negatively affected in Bali. Thousands of tourism workers have lost their jobs or have seen their businesses collapse.

In response, the Badung District Industry and Workforce Office decided to provide financial support to workers who have lost their jobs, been told to stay at home, or seen their working hours reduced. With support from the District Communication and Information Office, and in order to fulfill social distancing requirements to avoid the spread of COVID-19, the District Industry and Workforce Office launched an online registration form for affected workers to request financial assistance. Only individuals who had not previously received government support were selected. All data was verified through cross-checks with other district government offices to ensure no doubling-up of welfare support, before payments were made in three stages in June 2020.

It is hoped that this financial assistance is able to support families affected by the economic impacts of COVID-19. There are many forms of social welfare for Indonesian families, but administrative issues mean that often people are accidentally left off official lists, leaving them unassisted. This is especially the case during an unexpected situation like a pandemic, especially when face-to-face registration and verification is difficult or impossible to conduct.

Through Badung’s online system, over 12,000 workers registered for financial assistance, and after data filtering and cleaning, the District Industry and Workforce Office was able to identify over 1,500 individuals who had not received any government support so far during the pandemic. They received three months of financial support beginning in June 2020.

Badung District Industry and Workforce Office
Badung District Communication and Information Office
Badung District Citizenship and Civil Documentation Office
Badung District Finance and Asset Management Office
All sub-district and village offices across Badung District
Bank DPD Bali

Verifying workers’ applications for financial support required significant focus and attention to detail, so there is a chance that some data entry and verification staff may not be as dedicated as others, leading to oversight and/or errors.

Online registration may mean that some workers who need financial assistance may not be able to register because they cannot access the internet or are not aware of the online registration.