Cash grants ‘lifeline’ for SA small businesses and income support payments for regional workers.
In response to the South Australian 7 day lockdown beginning 21 July 2021, the State Treasurer today announced a $3,000 emergency cash grant for SA small and medium businesses. To be eligible for the grant, a business must as at 12:01am Tuesday 20 July 2021:
Be located within South Australia
Have an annual turnover of $75,000 or more in 2020-21 or 2019-20, and be registered for GST
Employ people in South Australia
Have an Australia-wide payroll of less than $10 million in 2019-20
Have a valid Australian Business Number (ABN)
Experience at least a 30 per cent reduction (compared to the week prior) in turnover due to the restricted trading conditions
For businesses who don’t employ staff such as non-employing sole traders, trusts and companies, a reduced $1,000 grant will be available. The eligibility for this grant is the same as the criteria above excluding the requirement to employ people. Applications for the grant are expected to open within the next two weeks via the SA Treasury website (https://treasury.sa.gov.au/sbg) and will close on 30 September 2021. Based on previous grants, we expect payments to be made within a couple of weeks of application. The Treasurer has further indicated that additional support would be considered if the lockdown is extended beyond 7 days or for individual industry sectors. In addition and in line with the support provided to NSW and Victorian workers impacted by lockdowns, eligible individuals who have lost hours due to lockdown will be entitled to claim for each relevant period (being a lockdown week):
$375 for each relevant period if you lost either between 8 and less than 20 hours of work per week or a full day of your usual work hours per week
$600 for each relevant period if you lost 20 hours or more work per week
Although the Federal Government is only funding individuals in the Commonwealth-declared ‘Hotspot’ areas of metropolitan Adelaide, the Hills and Gawler, the SA Treasurer confirmed that the SA Government would match the payments for all eligible SA workers outside the Hotspot areas. See https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/covid-19-disaster-payment for more information and application instructions, however note the website has not yet been updated to include South Australia. Full details of the Treasurer's press release can be seen at https://www.premier.sa.gov.au/news/media-releases/news/cash-grants-lifeline-for-sa-small-businesses-and-income-support-payments-for-regional-workers. Finally, anyone who is required to self-isolate by SA Health directions may be eligible for payments of $1,500 to support them to replace lost income (see https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/pandemic-leave-disaster-payment). If you have any questions in relation to these support payments, please contact KPI Business Advisory.
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