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Businesses that have fallen through eligibility cracks of the JobSaver scheme, and other COVID-19 grant programs, could soon receive support granted by a newly established government panel.
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NSW government offers lifeline to businesses that missed out on JobSaver, grant payments
07 October 2021
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The NSW Minister for Finance and Small Business, Damien Tudehope, announced the establishment of a new Hardship Review Panel on Wednesday (6 October) that was formed to grant financial support to businesses that haven’t qualified for any of the state’s previous grants.
The panel is set to assess the affairs of businesses on a case-by-case basis. Details related to how much a business could receive, and how long the panel will act, have yet to be released.
Mr Tudehope said the panel was created to help businesses that have experienced genuine hardship over the course of the pandemic, but have fallen through the eligibility cracks of the state’s business support schemes.
“COVID-19 has affected so many businesses in NSW, and even though we have a number of support measures in place, there are still some businesses under severe financial strain that aren’t eligible for assistance for a number of reasons,” Mr Tudehope said.
“We want to plug that gap as much as we can.”
Businesses that are granted additional support via the panel will be back paid to the fortnight when they first experienced the required decline in turnover.
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Mr Tudehope said the panel will comprise representatives from Revenue NSW, NSW Treasury and Service NSW, who will decide whether an applicant is eligible for supplementary support.
He said they will consider various factors to decide whether a business has, in fact, experienced financial hardship.
Among them are whether a business is an employer, or working in a heavily impacted industry; whether they’re based in an LGA of concern, or has unavoidable costs for which no other support is available.
Revenue NSW chief commissioner Scott Johnston, however, will make the final determination.
Mr Tudehope said that businesses across the state should know that he and his government will “be there with you all” as the state emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
As it stands, each of the state’s COVID-19 business support measures is set to begin winding down once 70 per cent of the NSW’s over-16 population has been fully vaccinated.
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.
Once the state’s over-16 vaccination rate breaches the 80 per cent threshold, Commonwealth contributions will stop entirely, though the NSW government will continue to fund the program, which will see funding reduced again, from 30 per cent to 15 per cent of a business’ payroll.
Before Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the wind-down in late September, only employing businesses with a turnover of between $75,000 and $250 million, and a reduction in turnover of 30 per cent or more over a two-week period would have qualified for the JobSaver payment.
Businesses that were approved for JobSaver support were required to maintain their employee headcount.
For the state’s Business Grant, a business needed to demonstrate that they had total annual wages of more than $10 million; an aggregated annual turnover of between $75,000 and $50 million, and have experienced a decline in turnover of 30 per cent as per the JobSaver scheme.
And those looking to receive support under the state’s Micro-Business Grant needed to have annual turnover of between $30,000 and $75,000 and be able to demonstrate a 30 per cent reduction in turnover over the same periods required for the state’s other support measures.
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