The Victoria Relief Packages for businesses under Covid restrictions
SUPPORTING VICTORIAN BUSINESSES THROUGH TO REOPENING
About the Program
A jointly-funded package of grants from the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments will support thousands of small and medium-sized businesses located in Victoria during October and November.
The grant packages announced provide businesses affected by restrictions with further certainty that support will continue in line with Victoria’s Roadmap. This will see more than 160,000 businesses receive support, ranging from retailers and gyms to hairdressers and hotels – mostly through automatic deposits into their bank accounts.
1. Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund
More than 9,000 licensed hospitality businesses that have previously received grants under the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund or July Extension programs will receive further automatic payments in October.
Weekly payment amounts are stepped according to premises capacity: $5,000 for a capacity of up to 99 patrons or where patron capacity is not specified, $10,000 for a capacity of 100 to 499 patrons, and $20,000 for a capacity of 500 or more. The Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund payments will total up to $407.5 million for the six-week period.
2. Business Costs Assistance Program Round Five
Businesses that have previously received or been approved for a Business Costs Assistance Program Round Two or July Extension grant will be eligible for these payments.
Businesses will be eligible to receive two fortnightly payments between 1-29 October on a rising scale. Eligible non-employing businesses will receive $1,000 per week, increasing to $2,800 a week for an annual payroll of up to $650,000, $5,600 a week for a payroll of $650,000 - $3 million and $8,400 a week for a payroll of $3 million - $10 million.
3. Small Business COVID Hardship Fund
The Fund supports businesses that have suffered significant losses due to the pandemic, including businesses legally allowed to operate but restricted in their ability to generate revenue, but have previously fallen between the cracks in terms of government support.
The existing $700 million funding pool has been fully subscribed and the new allocation means 65,000 businesses will now be supported with one-off grants of $20,000.
SMALL BUSINESS DIGITAL ADAPTION PROGRAM
About the Program
The Small Business Digital Adaptation Program provides $1200 rebates so small businesses can access a range of digital business tools.
The Victorian Government has partnered with 14 suppliers to help you build or upgrade your website, improve your cash flow, start online marketing, manage your jobs and projects, and keep better track of stock.
Eligibility
The Small Business Digital Adaptation Program is for sole traders, micro-businesses and small businesses.
To be eligible for the program an applicant must:
operate a business located in Victoria that has been in operation since or before 13 September 2019
hold an Australian Business Number (ABN)
have continuously held the ABN since or before 13 September 2019.
Applicants must meet the eligibility criteria and agree to the conditions outlined in the program guidelines.
Applicants also need to attest that they are currently operating their business and intend to adapt their business to a digital operating environment.
An eligible business, as defined by its ABN, can only receive one purchase rebate of $1200 to cover 12 months’ access to one or more approved digital products available under this program. The product must be purchased from the supplier by 11:59 pm on 5th December 2021, or before the program’s funds are exhausted.
How it works
Read the information on our page, the program guidelines and frequently asked questions (FAQs) first.
Then use the ABN Checker to check whether your ABN is valid for this program. Businesses can trial products and attend workshops before lodging an application. Businesses can attend unlimited workshops and complete multiple digital product trials until 21 November 2021.
Sign up and purchase your preferred digital product/s through one of the partner suppliers by 5 December 2021.
Apply for a rebate of $1,200 to cover 12 months' access to your product/s by no later than 11:59 pm on 5 December 2021.
After six weeks, approved businesses will be asked to complete a survey to confirm that they are still using the approved product/s.
Businesses will be required to respond to short surveys at six and 12 months to help Business Victoria understand how businesses have benefitted from the program and the product/s.
The Victoria's Roadmap to Deliver the National Plan
About the Roadmap
The Roadmap sets Victoria on a hopeful path to opening while also preserving their health system and ensuring Victorians can still get the healthcare they need and when they need it most.
Roadmap Summary
Phase A: 80% single dose
Phase A: reopening schools
Phase B: 70% double dose
Phase C: 80% double dose
Phase D: 80% double dose (12+)
To prepare for the vaccination thresholds outlined in the Roadmap to Deliver the National Plan, the Victorian Government will undertake Vaccinated Economy Trials in select venues and settings across regional Victoria, supporting venues to verify the vaccination status of patrons.
COVID-Safe Reopening For Victorian Construction
Restrictions on the Victorian construction industry will ease from 11.59 pm on Monday, 4 October, with a Construction Sector Roadmap setting a way forward for the sector to stay open and keep our community safe.
Fully vaccinated workers can travel between metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria in order to work onsite. Workers on state critical projects or large scale construction can also travel between metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria if they have had a single dose, take an initial test before their first travel, then test twice per week until fully vaccinated. To allow all sites to remobilise, workers who have had at least one vaccination dose will be able to enter a site prior to 5 October in order to undertake crib facility improvements, participate in a reinduction or receive deliveries.
As part of the re-opening, the Victorian Government expect the construction industry to comply with directions in full. Teams of Authorised Workers will conduct checks to enforce directions, and penalties will be in place for builders and site operators that do not comply – including site shutdowns for significant or repeated breaches.
See a summary of COVID-Safe Reopening for Victorian Construction on this site and the Construction Industry Roadmap here.