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As Victoria enters its sixth lockdown, many business owners are feeling the stress caused by this disruption to their operations. Since many grants for businesses impacted by the lockdowns have been announced both during the previous lockdown in June and more recently, we have added a summary of what we know below.
Business Costs Assistance Program Round Two
The Victoria government launched a round of Covid19 business grants for eligible small to medium businesses, including employing and non-employing businesses impacted by the May–June 2021 restrictions in Victoria. The program offered grants of up to $7,000 to eligible businesses depending on their industry sector.
For businesses that were eligible, there was a further extension of the initial grant with the following top-up payments:
- 16 July 2021 $2,000
- 21 July 2021 $2,800
Please note if your business was eligible for either the Tourism Supplement or Top-Up Payment announced in June 2021, these will be processed and paid separately.
New Victoria Business Support Package
A new, jointly funded package from the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments will deliver an additional $400 million to Victorian small and medium businesses to give extra support they need to recover from the recent lockdown.
The package includes a $85 million Small Business COVID Hardship Fund and $156 million Business Continuity Fund, as well as delivering support for commercial tenants and landlords.
It will also build on Victorian Government support for licenced hospitality and alpine venues, with $70 million for the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund 2021 and $9.8 million for Alpine Business Support.
More details on the eligibility of the grants will be made available soon.
Business continuity fund
A $156 million Business Continuity Fund will be established to deliver grants to up to around 30,000 businesses that remain impacted by capacity limits placed on businesses by necessary public health restrictions.
how much?
- $5,000 grant for eligible businesses
- $2,000 additional payment available if the business is located within the CBD.
who is eligible?
24 eligible sectors are covered by the fund including gyms, cafes, restaurants, catering services and hairdressers.
All recipients must have received or been eligible for the previous Business Cost Assistance Program.
Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund 2021
The Licenced Hospitality Venue Fund will receive a $70 million boost, with grants made available to support licensed venues as their operations continue to be impacted by current restrictions.
These grants recognise that larger venues depend more on dine-in customers and have higher operating costs, so need more support than smaller operations.
how much?
- $20,000 to supported licence venues
- $2,000 additional payment available if the business is located within the CBD.
who is eligible?
- To receive this funding, venues will need to have received or been eligible for the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund 2021.
Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme and Landlord Hardship Fund
The package, to be fully funded by the Victorian Government, will deliver $80 million to provide support to landlords that provide rent relief to their tenants.
The Commercial Tenancies Relief Scheme will be reinstated to provide much needed rent relief to small to medium commercial tenants and their landlords with more details on the roll out to be provided by the Victorian Government soon.
Small Business COVID Hardship Fund
A new $85 million fund will be established to support small businesses who have not been eligible under existing business support funds.
Small businesses with a payroll of up to $10 million who have experienced a 70 per cent or greater reduction in revenue will be eligible for grants of up to $5,000.
how much?
- $5,000 for a business with 70% decline in revenue
who is eligible?
- Small businesses with a payroll of up to $10 million
More details of on the grant eligibility to be provided soon.
Covid19 disaster payment – Victoria
The Covid19 disaster payment is a federal initiative that is only for employees who have had their income impacted due to a restricted movement order. It is claimable via myGov and is being administered by Centrelink. This is a lump-sum payment for people who lost work and income due to a Victoria COVID-19 public health order.
how much?
How much you get depends on all the following criteria:
- the location of the health order
- the period you’re claiming for
- the hours of work you lost.
You’ll get the appropriate payment amount for each payment period you’re eligible for.
The amounts for each payment period are listed below:
- 16 July to 22 July 2021 $375 if you lost less than 20 hours work per week
- 16 July to 22 July 2021 $600 if you lost more than 20 hours work per week
- 23 July to 27 July 2021 $375 if you lost less than 20 more hours work per week
- 23 July to 27 July 2021 $600 if you lost more than 20 more hours work per week
who is eligible?
To receive the payment, you need to meet all eligibility rules that apply as follows:
- you’re an Australian resident or hold a visa that gives you the right to work in Australia
- you’re 17 years or older
- you’re not getting an income support payment, ABSTUDY Living Allowance, Dad and Partner Pay or Parental Leave Pay
- you’re not getting the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment, a state or territory pandemic payment or a state small business payment for the same period
- you’ve lost income on or after day 6 and don’t have any appropriate paid leave entitlements.
when will payments start?
Applications for this are open now via myGov and payments should be made within a week of eligibility.
We know a lot of these grants have not yet issued all of their rules, eligibility and payment details. As always when we know more we will keep you updated, make sure that you sign up for any further details here.
If you would like to find out more about what this means for you and your business or need general business advice, give us a call on 1300BDEPOT or email us at oneplace@businessdepot.com.au.
