During these unprecedented times Advance Cessnock City have compiled important information and resources for everything you need to know about Coronavirus (COVID-19) and what it means for your business.
Essential Information
Below is essential information that has be compiled by the Australian Government as of Tuesday 31 March 2020:
- Public gatherings, excluding household members, have been reduced to a maximum of two people. Check State and Territory websites for further enforcement information.
- Everyone should stay home unless you are: shopping for essentials, receiving medical care, exercising or travelling to work or education. Read more.
- People aged over 70; aged over 65 with pre-existing conditions, or Indigenous people aged over 50 with pre-existing conditions should stay home wherever possible for their own protection.
- the Government has announced a $130 billion JobKeeper Payment to keep more Australians in jobs and support businesses affected by the Coronavirus. Read more.
- Evictions will be put on hold for 6 months by the states and territories. Landlords and renters are encouraged to talk about short term agreements. More information to come this week.
- If you are in self-isolation because you are confirmed or suspected to have Coronavirus (COVID-19), or have been in close contact with a confirmed case, use this form to help us track the spread of the virus. Read more.
- A safety net package of $1.1 billion has been announced by the Prime Minister to expand mental health and telehealth services, increase domestic violence services and provide more emergency food relief. Read more.
- Stay informed. Download the official government “Coronavirus Australia” app in the Apple App Store or Google Play, or join our WhatsApp channel on iOS or Android.
Information sourced from the Australian Government.
We provide this website to inform the public and to provide information to businesses. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this information, no guarantee can be given about the suitability, completeness or accuracy of any of the material that this site may be linked to or other material on the Internet.
The Government is acting decisively in the national interest to support households and businesses and address the significant economic consequences of the Coronavirus.
While the full economic effects from the virus remain uncertain, the outlook has deteriorated since the Government’s initial Economic Response announced on 12 March 2020.
The spread of the virus worldwide has broadened, and is expected to be more prolonged. Governments, both international and domestic, have announced stricter mitigation measures to slow the spread of the virus, which are having significant economic impacts.
On 30 March, the Government announced the $130 billion JobKeeper Payment to help keep Australians in jobs as we deal with the significant economic impact from the Coronavirus. This brings the Government’s total support for the economy to $320 billion across the forward estimates, representing 16.4 per cent of annual GDP.
The Government’s economic response targets areas:
- Supporting indivduals and households
- Support for businesses
- JobKeeper Payment
- Supporting the flow of credit
Supporting individuals and households
The Australian Government is providing financial assistance to Australians. This assistance includes income support payments, payments to support households and temporary early releases of superannuation.
- Income support for individuals
- Payments to support households
- Temporary early release of superannuation
- Temporarily reducing superannuation minimum drawdown rates
- Reducing social security deeming rates
Further information Supporting individuals and households
Support for businesses
The Australian Government is supporting Australian businesses to manage cash flow challenges and retain employees. Assistance includes cash flow support to businesses and temporary measures to provide relief for financially distressed businesses.
Boosting cash flow for employers
Temporary relief for financially distressed businesses
Increasing the instant asset write-off
Backing business investment
Supporting apprentices and trainees
Further information Support for Businesses
JobKeeper Payment
The Government has announced a $130 billion JobKeeper payment to help keep more Australians in jobs and support businesses affected by the significant economic impact caused by the Coronavirus.
Around 6 million workers will receive a fortnightly payment of $1,500 (before tax) through their employer.
The payment ensures eligible employers remain connected to their workforce and will help businesses restart quickly when the crisis is over.
Further information JobKeeper Payment
Supporting the flow of credit
The Government, the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority have taken coordinated action to ensure the flow of credit in the Australian economy. Timely access to credit is vital for businesses to manage the impacts of the Coronavirus.
Under the Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme, the Government will provide a guarantee of 50 per cent to SME lenders to support new short-term unsecured loans to SMEs. The Scheme will guarantee up to $40 billion of new lending. This will provide businesses with funding to meet cash flow needs, by further enhancing lenders’ willingness and ability to provide credit. This will assist otherwise viable businesses across the economy who are facing significant challenges due to disrupted cash flow to meet existing obligations.
Further information Support the flow of credit
Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme - Supporting the flow of credit
The Coronavirus Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Guarantee Scheme will support up to $40 billion of lending to SMEs.
The Scheme will enhance lenders’ willingness and ability to provide credit, supporting many otherwise viable SMEs to access vital additional funding to get through the impact of Coronavirus.
The Scheme will be available for new loans made by participating lenders until 30 September 2020.
For further information for small and medium businesses refer to Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme - Supporting the flow of credit
Small Business support grant
The NSW Government has announced new support targeting a cash injection to keep small businesses afloat during the current unprecedented COVID-19 situation.
Thousands of small businesses across NSW struggling to cope with the COVID-19 shutdown will receive grants of up to $10,000 under a new assistance scheme announced today by Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
The NSW COVID-19 Small Business Support Grant of $10,000 will be available to eligible NSW small business owners.
For further information and to check your eligibility Small Business Support Grant
Resources
Information on how the Australian Government’s economic response could support you can be found in the following link Resources
The Australian Government is supporting Australian Businesses to manage cash flow challenges and retain employees. Assistance includes cash flow support to businesses and temporary measures to provide relief for financially distresses businesses.
- boosting cash flow for employers
- temporary relief for financially distressed businesses
- increasing the instant asset write-off
- backing business investment
- supporting apprentices and trainees
Boosting cash flow for employers
The Government is enhancing the boosting Cash Flow for employers measures it announced on 12 March 2020. The Government is providing up to $100,000 to eligible small and medium businesses, and not for-profits (NFPs) that employ people, with a minimum payment of $20,000. These payments will help businesses and NFPs with their cash flow so they can keep operating, pay their rent, electricity and other bills and retain staff.
This measure will benefit around 690,000 businesses employing around 7.8 million people, and around 30,000 NFPs (including charities).
Small and medium-sized business entities with aggregated annual turnover under $50 million and that employ workers are eligible. NFPs, including charities, with aggregated annual turnover under $50 million and that employ workers will now also be eligible. This will support employment at a time where NFPs are facing increasing demand for services.
Under the enhanced scheme, employers will receive a payment equal to 100 per cent of their salary and wages withheld (up from 50 per cent), with the maximum payment being increased from $25,000 to $50,000. In addition, the minimum payment is being increased from $2,000 to $10,000.
An additional payment is also being introduced in the July – October 2020 period. Eligible entities will receive an additional payment equal to the total of all of the Boosting Cash Flow for Employers payments they have received. This means that eligible entities will receive at least $20,000 up to a total of $100,000 under both payments.
Fact sheet:
Temporary relief for financially distressed businesses
The economic impacts of the Coronavirus and health measures to prevent its spread could see many otherwise profitable and viable businesses temporarily face financial distress. It is important that these businesses have a safety net to make sure that when the crisis has passed they can resume normal business operations. One element of that safety net is to lessen the threat of actions that could unnecessarily push them into insolvency and force the winding up of the business.
The Government is temporarily increasing the threshold at which creditors can issue a statutory demand on a company and the time companies have to respond to statutory demands they receive. The package also includes temporary relief for directors from any personal liability for trading while insolvent, and providing temporary flexibility in the Corporations Act 2001 to provide temporary and targeted relief from provisions of the Act to deal with unforeseen events that arise as a result of the Coronavirus health crisis.
The ATO will tailor solutions for owners or directors of business that are currently struggling due to the Coronavirus, including temporary reduction of payments or deferrals, or withholding enforcement actions including Director Penalty Notices and wind-ups.
Increasing the instant asset write-off
The Government is increasing the instant asset write-off threshold from $30,000 to $150,000 and expanding access to include businesses with aggregated annual turnover of less than $500 million (up from $50 million) until 30 June 2020. In 2017-18 there were more than 360,000 businesses that benefited from the current instant asset write-off, claiming deductions to the value of over $4 billion. This measure will support over 3.5 million businesses (over 99 per cent of businesses) employing more than 9.7 million employees.
Backing business investment
The Government is introducing a time limited 15 month investment incentive (through to 30 June 2021) to support business investment and economic growth over the short term, by accelerating depreciation deductions. Businesses with a turnover of less than $500 million will be able to deduct 50 per cent of the cost of an eligible asset on installation, with existing depreciation rules applying to the balance of the asset’s cost. This measure will support business investment and is estimated to lower taxes paid by Australian businesses by $6.7 billion over the next two years. This measure will support over 3.5 million businesses (over 99 per cent of businesses) employing more than 9.7 million employees.
Supporting apprentices and trainees
The Government is supporting small business to retain their apprentices and trainees. Eligible employers can apply for a wage subsidy of 50 per cent of the apprentice’s or trainee’s wage for 9 months from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2020. Where a small business is not able to retain an apprentice, the subsidy will be available to a new employer that employs that apprentice. Employers will be reimbursed up to a maximum of $21,000 per eligible apprentice or trainee ($7,000 per quarter). Support will also be provided to the National Apprentice Employment Network, the peak national body representing Group Training Organisation, to co-ordinate the re-employment of displaced apprentices and trainees through out their network of host employers across Australia.
Fact sheet available: https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-03/Fact_sheet-Support_for_business_investment.pdf
Support for Coronavirus-affected regions and communities
The Government will set aside $1 billion to support regions most significantly affected by the Coronavirus outbreak. These funds will be available to assist during the outbreak and the recovery. In addition, the Government is assisting our airline industry by providing relief from a number of taxes and Government charges estimated to total up to $715 million. Fact sheet: https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-03/Fact_sheet-Assistance_for_severely_affected_regions_and_sectors.pdf
Coronavirus Business Liaison Unit
A Coronavirus Business Liaison Unit has been established within The Treasury to engage with business on a regular basis and provide updates to government on crucial issues.
Further Information
Business.gov.au for more information on financial assistance, eligibility and timing for the new government support for Australian Businesses, visit Business.gov.au.
Australian Taxation Office
The ATO will continue to update their website ATO Website to advice to business once implemented.
COVID-19 Posters for your Business
Download COVID-19 Posters for your business here COVID-19 Resources-Posters
Free Business Advice Service
A free advisory service is available to small businesses through NSW Business Connect. Advice is offered about managing cash flow, planning the next steps, accessing financial support schemes and connecting to additional support. Register at http://industry.nsw.gov.au/businessconnect or call 1300 134 359 to book a session with a local advisor.
What Support is available to you?
Coronavirus information and support for business
Find financial assistance, eligibility and timing for the new government support for Australian businesses. Business.gov.au will be updating their page as new information is available.
For further information and resources following the link provided: https://www.business.gov.au/risk-management/emergency-management/coronavirus-information-and-support-for-business?fbclid=IwAR1cGLDNOa3G5MDGt0qdKcOo9dXzRAcx998_DGNU_-1-PDcq8dpISAMA_Vs
Support available for sole traders
If you're a sole trader, learn what your business can get and where to go for help. Read more here https://www.business.gov.au/risk-management/emergency-management/coronavirus-information-and-support-for-business/what-support-is-available-to-your-business
Support available for employers
If you employ people, learn what your business can get and where to go for help. Read more here https://www.business.gov.au/risk-management/emergency-management/coronavirus-information-and-support-for-business/employers
Support available for companies
If you run a company, learn what your business can get and where to go for help. Read more here https://www.business.gov.au/risk-management/emergency-management/coronavirus-information-and-support-for-business/companies
Business NSW's March 2020 Business Conditions Survey
Due to the current mounting pressures on businesses, Business NSW are requesting businesses participation in a Business Conditions Survey to better understand tthe impact of coronavirus, bushfires, drought and other weather-related events. Take the survey here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6LKJR5W
Information sourced from the Australian Government The Treasury and Business.gov.au
We provide this website to inform the public and to provide information to businesses. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this information, no guarantee can be given about the suitability, completeness or accuracy of any of the material that this site may be linked to or other material on the Internet.
Feeling overwhelmed?
The following are free services available 24 hours a day, seven days a week:
Mental Health Line - 1800 011 511
Lifeline - 13 11 14
Mensline - 1300 789 978
Kids Helpline - 1800 551 800
Beyondblue - 1300 224 636
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger call 000.
More resources available online from: https://headtohealth.gov.au/service-providers
What about the well being of your business?
We know that good business health supports good mental health, and vice versa. We want to ensure that small business owners have the tools to manage the challenges so they can focus on enjoying their business.
The ASBFEO's My Business Health portal provides links and resources.
If you're trying to improve your own mental health, or support somebody else with mental health issues, the Australian Government's Head to Health provides links to trusted Australian online and phone supports, resources and treatment options.