Tens of thousands of South Australian businesses that have been forced to close over the lockdown are eligible for a $3000 emergency cash grant from the State Government, while workers stood down across regional and metropolitan SA will receive up to $600 a week in compensation.

Premier Steven Marshall has stated that the State Government would match the Federal Government’s lump-sum disaster payments, to ensure workers stood down in regional South Australia would receive the same amount of compensation as those in metropolitan Adelaide.

Under the state and federal government funding packages, workers across SA who lose between eight hours and 20 hours of work during the first week of lockdown will be eligible for a $375 back payment from next Wednesday.

Those who lose more than 20 hours will be eligible for $600 in income relief from next Wednesday.

All compensation will be processed through Services Australia, regardless of whether the payments are funded by the state or federal governments.

Treasurer Rob Lucas at this morning’s press conference. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

The State Government has also announced that it will provide cash grants of $3000 to small to medium-sized businesses that have been impacted by the lockdown.

The support package is worth about $100 million and is estimated to support 50,000 businesses across the state, to help employers cover the costs of rent, power bills, supplier and raw material costs, and other fees.

Cash grants of $1000 will be made available for sole traders.

Businesses are eligible for the payments if they have a payroll of less than $10 million, with an annual turnover of $75,000 or more in 2020-21 or 2019-20.

They must prove that their turnover will be reduced by at least 30 per cent over the seven-day lockdown from July 20.

They must also be located in South Australia, employ South Australians and have a valid Australian Business Number.

Larger businesses will not receive any funding support.

The funding package is based on similar schemes in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia.

Lucas said if the lockdown extended beyond seven days, the Government would consider providing further funding to support businesses.

He said the Government would also consider giving targeted support to industries that are significantly impacted by the lockdown.

The Government has broadened the eligibility criteria for businesses compared to last year’s lockdown funding package and it anticipates a “significantly larger” number of businesses will receive funding support.

“If you’re COVID-impacted, then you’re entitled to be eligible for the grant.”

The Detail:

COVID-19 Business Support Grant – July 2021

The South Australian Government has announced a July 2021 COVID-19 Business Support Grant Program to support thousands of South Australian small and medium-sized businesses that suffer a significant loss of income or have been forced to close as a result of the restrictions imposed from 20 July 2021.

Grants of $3,000 for employing businesses and $1,000 for non-employing businesses are available for eligible businesses whose turnover has declined by 30% or more as a result of the COVID‑19 health restrictions in the week commencing 20 July 2021.

To be eligible for the $3,000 grant a business must meet all criteria listed below, at the start of the restriction period of 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.
• Have a valid and active ABN (Australian Business Number).
• Must employ people in South Australia.
• Have an Australia-wide payroll of less than $10 million in the 2019-20 financial year.
• Experienced at least a 30 per cent reduction in turnover in the week of Tuesday 20 July 2021 – Monday 26 July 2021 (inclusive) (compared to the prior week) due to restricted trading conditions.

Applications for the Business Support Grant must be submitted by 11:59pm, 30 September 2021.

To be eligible for the $1,000 grant, non-employing businesses will be subject to the eligibility criteria outlined above, excluding the requirement to employ people.

Where multiple non-employing businesses meeting the eligibility criteria are controlled by one individual, company, partnership, or trustee, funding will be restricted to one grant for all non-employing businesses controlled by the individual, company, partnership, or trustee.

Non-employing businesses are not eligible to apply if persons associated with the business, and who derive income from it, have applied for, or are receiving, the Commonwealth COVID-19 Disaster Payment.

Businesses will be required to declare that they have experienced a loss or reduction in turnover due to restricted trading conditions. They will not be required to provide any supporting information at the time of application but will be required to retain supporting information for 12 months that could be made available for audit and compliance purposes such as:

• Turnover comparison data for the week prior to the assessment period
• Emails or texts to or from clients or suppliers detailing cancelled orders or appointments
• Receipts for refunds provided
• Invoices or delivery dockets
• Appointment/scheduling platform, demonstrating cancelled appointments or bookings
• Screenshots of cancelled events

Applications for a Business Support Grant will close at 11:59pm on 30 September 2021.

Treasury will contact via email successful grant recipients from the 2020 Rounds 1 and 2 of the Small Business Grant (SBG) through the email address submitted by the business as part of the SBG application process, to advise them of the new Business Support Grant. The applications process for these businesses will be fast tracked and payments expedited where business details have not changed.

Official grant guidelines and an application portal will be made available shortly. In the interim, register here, to receive a notification that applications are open.

If you would like any additional information on the grants above for SA, Vic or NSW please don’t hesitate to contact us.