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Businesses in NSW, Victoria and the ACT will soon see federal support wound back as soon as mid-October, after the government announced a phased scale-back of COVID-19 support based on vaccination targets.
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Government to turn off business support at 80% vaccination rate
30 September 2021
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Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Thursday announced that the Commonwealth will move to taper support for businesses once 70 per cent of the state’s over-16 population is fully vaccinated, with federal support to cease once the 80 per cent target is reached.
“At this point it will be a matter for each state to decide whether any additional targeted business support is needed in their jurisdictions as a result of any health restrictions they elect to impose,” said Mr Frydenberg.
In NSW, once a fully vaccinated rate of 70 per cent is reached, JobSaver payments will be slashed from the equivalent of 40 per cent of weekly payroll to 30 per cent of weekly payroll. Based on current inoculation trends, this first phase could occur as soon as 10 October.
Minimum and maximum payments are also set to be reduced once the 70 per cent threshold is breached.
The minimum payment will drop from $1,500 to $1,125, while the maximum payment will also drop, from $100,000 to $75,000 – an across-the-board payment cut of 25 per cent.
Grants will also drop, this time by 30 per cent, while grants for sole traders will drop from $1,000 to $750.
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Once the state’s over-16 vaccination rate breaches the 80 per cent threshold, Commonwealth contributions will stop entirely, though the NSW government is expected to announce renewed support later on Thursday.
Victoria support
Meanwhile, one final round of Commonwealth-supplemented business support for Victoria was announced on Thursday, before the state will be left to fund additional support measures.
The final package will see Victorian businesses receive up to $2.27 billion over the next six weeks, at which point the state is expected to breach its 80 per cent vaccination threshold.
The $2.27 billion is set to support some 160,000 businesses across the state, of which 124,000 can expect to receive automatic payments of between $1,000 and $8,400, tiered based on payroll numbers, under the Business Costs Assistance Program.
Businesses that remain closed or severely restricted over the first two weeks of November, the Treasurer said on Thursday, will also receive automatic payments for that period.
The Victorian booster package will also see more than 9,000 hospitality venues across the state receive automatic weekly payments of between $5,000 and $20,000 under the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund. Through the first week of November, though, venues still relying on the fund will have to deal with “reduced rates” to reflect “lower restrictions in place”.
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas said the buffer will ensure the state’s businesses have the best chance of making it through the final weeks of lockdown.
“Victorian businesses have endured so much over the past 20 months and they’ve been amazingly resilient as we’ve faced challenge after challenge,” Mr Pallas said.
ACT support
In the ACT, where another jointly funded business support package was announced on Thursday, the state government can also expect to be weaned off Commonwealth-funded support once 80 per cent of the territory’s over-16 population is fully vaccinated.
A final business support top-up for the capital will see an additional Business Grant Extension payment of $10,000 made available to all employing businesses, and $3,750 for non-employing businesses.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said businesses will receive payments if they’ve been eligible previously and are working in industries that continue to bear the brunt of health restrictions.
Larger businesses can also expect another top-up payment.
Those with a turnover of between $2 million and $5 million will receive $10,000; those with a turnover of between $5 million and $10 million will receive $20,000; and, businesses with a turnover of more than $10 million will receive payments of $30,000.
The announcement emerges alongside another outlining the expansion of the territory’s Tourism, Accommodation Provider, Arts, Events, Hospitality & Fitness Grants.
Under the expansion, the program will now offer payments of $5,000 to non-employing businesses; $8,000 to employing businesses with turnover of less than $2 million; $15,000 to employing businesses with turnover of between $2 million and $5 million; and, $25,000 to employing businesses with a turnover of more than $5 million.
Mr Frydenberg said the announcements emerge as each of the states needs to learn to live with COVID-19, without the helping hand of federal support – the same sound bite provided by the Treasurer to explain an end to COVID-19 Disaster Payments on Wednesday.
“At this point it will be incumbent on the states to provide any necessary targeted business support needed in their jurisdictions relevant to any health restrictions they elect to impose,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“We can’t eliminate the virus, we need to learn to live with it in a COVID-safe way.
“Our economy has bounced back strongly before once restrictions are eased and is well positioned to do so again when lockdowns lift.”
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