Support Available for July Lockdowns

In response to the recent outbreaks of Covid-19 in Australia, the relevant State Governments and the Commonwealth Government have made announcements in relation to the availability of support programs. We have primarily covered the programs available for Victorian businesses and Victorian individuals but have touched on the New South Wales support also. If you need assistance with other State support programs, please contact us.

Victorian Government Business Support

Further to the Business Costs Assistance Program Round Two that was available due to the May and June lockdown in Victoria, the Victorian Government has introduced top up payments as a result of the current lockdown.

There are two top up payments available:

16 July 2021 top up (for the first 5 days of lockdown) and,
21 July 2021 top up (for the 7 days extension).

Eligibility criteria

To automatically receive the top up payments, businesses must have received the Business Costs Assistance Program Round Two grant or the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund 2021 grant. New applicants will need to assess the original eligibility criteria (https://sawarddawson.com.au/support-available-for-victorian-lockdown/) and apply.

Grant amount

Eligible Business Costs Assistance Program recipients will receive a further $4,800 ($2,000 and $2,800), while Licenced Hospitality Venue Fund recipients will receive a further $7,200 ($3,000 and $4,200).

Payments will be processed and paid automatically into the same bank account as nominated in your original application. You will be notified via email of the payments

Businesses that chose not apply for the original programs associated with the May and June lockdowns or were not eligible at that stage, will be able to apply for July lockdown support payments. More information will be released soon.

More information is available here: https://business.vic.gov.au/grants-and-programs/circuit-breaker-business-support-package/21-july-2021-top-up-payment. We also recommend that you sign up for the Business Victoria newsletter to receive updates https://business.vic.gov.au/about-us/subscribe.

Federal Government Covid-19 Disaster Payment

On 15 July 2021, the Commonwealth Government also announced that income support will be provided for workers impacted by a state public health order through the Covid-19 Disaster Payment. The Victorian window for claims opens today, 23 July 2021.

The key eligibility dates and claim periods are as follows:

Event	Event dates	Claims open	Claims close
Parts of Sydney	1 July to 7 July 2021	1 July 2021	28 July 2021
Parts of Sydney	8 July to 14 July 2021	8 July 2021	4 August 2021
Parts of Sydney	15 July to 21 July 2021	15 July 2021	11 August 2021
Parts of Sydney	22 July to 28 July 2021	22 July 2021	18 August 2021
Parts of Sydney	29 July to 30 July 2021	29 July 2021	25 August 2021
Greater Sydney	4 July to 10 July 2021	4 July 2021	31 July 2021
Greater Sydney	11 July to 17 July 2021	11 July 2021	7 August 2021
Greater Sydney	18 July to 24 July 2021	18 July 2021	14 August 2021
Greater Sydney	25 July to 30 July 2021	25 July 2021	21 August 2021
All other areas of NSW	18 July to 30 July 2021	18 July 2021	21 August 2021
Victoria	16 July to 22 July 2021	23 July 2021	12 August 2021
Victoria	23 July to 27 July 2021	25 July 2021	19 August 2021
South Australia	20 July to 27 July 2021	28 July 2021	16 August 2021

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for the payment, you must meet all of the following:

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 and don’t have any appropriate paid leave entitlements.
For Victorians, you must also meet the following rules to be eligible for the recognised Victoria COVID-19 event in July 2021:
- you live in, work from or have visited a Commonwealth-declared COVID-19 hotspot that is subject to a state restricted movement order or you live in or work from other areas of Victoria
- you were unable to earn your usual income of 8 hours or more or a full day’s work because you were in the COVID-19 hotspot and are subject to restricted movement or you live or work from other areas of Victoria.

Please note that sole traders may apply for this payment if they are unable to work from home and satisfy the above criteria. This is particularly relevant for sole traders with a turnover of less than $75,000 as this is generally a key exclusion from the State Government business support programs.

More information available here: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/covid-19-disaster-payment

Payment amount

Individuals that have lost between 8 and less than 20 hours of work per week will be eligible for a payment of $375 for each relevant period, or if they have lost 20 or more hours of work per week they will be eligible for a payment of $600 for each relevant period.

Application

All Australian residents must claim online via their myGov account. If you are an eligible work visa holder, you will need to call the Emergency information line to claim.

NSW Support Payments

The New South Wales Government have announced a range of measures to support businesses, sole traders and small not-for-profits. Broadly, these are as follows:

Covid-19 Business Grants and Micro Business Grants – eligibility and the level of grant income is dependent on turnover, being able to show a decline in turnover, payroll levels and other criteria.
JobSaver – 40% wage subsidy for employing businesses with a minimum of $1,500 per week and a maximum of $10,000 per week. Eligibility dependent on turnover between $75,000 and $50 million and a revenue decline of 30% or more
Payroll tax concessions and deferrals

More details are available here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/2021-covid-19-support-package/businesses-sole-traders-and-small-not-for-profits

The above is general information only and you will need to review the detail carefully for each program to establish eligibility. If you would like assistance with any of the programs, please do not hesitate to contact us.