With the emerging COVID-19 situation in QLD over the weekend, the 11 LGA’s subject to a lockdown have now been declared a Commonwealth Hotspot.

This opens up pathways for both individuals and businesses to claim support similar to measures already in place in other states.

COVID-19 Disaster Payment

A support payment is available for individuals who can’t earn an income because of a COVID-19 lockdown.

You are eligible if:

• You can’t attend work and have lost income because of COVID-19 restrictions
• You can’t access appropriate paid leave entitlements from your employer
• You’re not receiving an income support payment, a state or territory pandemic payment, Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment or state small business payment for the same period.

The payment is:

• $750 if a person has lost 20 hour or more of work a week, or
• $450 if a person has lot between 8 and 20 hours of work

The application to apply for payments will be available from 7^th August. Applications will need to be made through your myGov Account.

QLD – 2021 COVID-19 Business Support Grant

Payments of up to $5,000 will be available to small and medium businesses (turnover of more than $75,000 per year and an annual payroll in QLD of up to $10million) across QLD affected by the current lockdown and lockdowns in other states.

Further support will be available to eligible impacted large businesses in the hospitality and tourism sector (turnover greater than $10million) in the 11 LGA’s currently locked down that have experienced a 30% reduction in turnover.

Applications for payments will be applied through and administered by QRIDA.

This information is general at this stage and more details will be available in the coming days.

Measures in other states include the following:

NSW – 2021 COVID-19 Business Grant

Eligible businesses (including non-employing businesses such as sole traders) and not-for-profits can apply for a one-off grant if the restrictions affect their turnover. The grants are assessed based on the impact on turnover:

• $15,000 for a decline in turnover of 70% or more
• $10,500 for a decline in turnover of between 50% and 69%
• $7,500 for a decline in turnover of between 30% and 49%

To be eligible, a business must:

• Have experienced a revenue decline of 30% or more,
• Have an annual turnover of above $75,000, and
• Their annual payroll must be under $10 million.

The turnover period is calculated over at least two weeks from 26 June 2021 to 17 July 2021, compared to the same period in 2019.

Further measures currently relevant to NSW only at this stage include:

• JobSaver – eligible employing entities will receive up to 40% of their NSW weekly payroll (up to a maximum of $100,000)
• Payroll tax concessions – entities paying Australian wages of between $1.2 million and $10 million and have experienced a 30% decline in turnover will receive a 25% payroll tax deduction
• Grants for micro business – businesses with aggregated annual turnover of between $30k and $75k that experience a 30% decline in turnover will be eligible for a $1500 payment each fortnight during the restrictions.
• Non- employing businesses may be eligible to receive a payment of $1,000 per week

Full details can be found at https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/2021-covid-19-business-grant-guidelines

Victoria has a Business support payment available:

• Businesses that successfully applied for the Business Costs Assistance Program Round Two (from the May/June lockdown 2021) will automatically receive a top-up payment of $4,800. Businesses eligible for this will also receive an additional: 
  • $5,000 if they remain impacted by capacity limit from 28 July, including gyms, cafes, restaurants and hairdressers
  • $2,000 if they are in the Melbourne CBD
• Businesses that didn’t previously apply or have become eligible to apply for the Business Cost Assistance Program can apply for July lockdown support payments.
• Businesses not eligible for any existing Victorian Government may be eligible for grants of up to $5,000. To be eligible, businesses must have a payroll of up to $10mill and experienced a 70% or greater decline in revenue.

Please contact our office if you would like some assistance in reviewing your eligibility to access any of these payments or reviewing your eligibility.