I understand that the government has said that any evictions due to covid19 will not be allowed.
Jumping ahead a little here, if you did evict them, them it’s up to you yo prove they were not affected by covid 19. I dont think the courts will be sympathetic with the landlord under any circumstances.
In any case, in NSW, all local court nonessential business is on hold till about September. You can’t evict a tenant without a court order, so your tenants will sit there till the court can schedule a hearing. That could be months away(even into next year).
The loss of income is going to affect all of us. The government has said as much.
It’s up to the landlord as to how to treat each tenant. This is uncharted territory.
In my humble opinion, work out some arrangement with your tenant, even if it’s to receive a token rent payment.
Tenants To me sometimes are smarter than the landlords and hence are able to exploit them. Be seen as compromising and they may respect you for it.