Earlier today the Federal Government’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced that the Commonwealth will move to wind back support for businesses once 70 percent of a state’s over-16 population is fully vaccinated and at 80 percent the support would cease. In NSW this would mean support would stop before the end of October.

However, the NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet then announced that the NSW Government would continue to contribute towards payments for businesses affected by coronavirus restrictions until November 30.

• When NSW reaches the 70 percent double vaccination rate JobSaver payments will be tapered from 40 percent to 30 percent of weekly payroll.
• When NSW reaches the 80 percent double vaccination rate, the Commonwealth will end its contributions and the NSW Government will continue to fund its share. At this point JobSaver payments will be tapered from 30 percent to 15 percent of weekly payroll.

Whilst we assume that the above relates to most businesses based on the current $100,000 per week cap used, we are yet to receive any updates on what this means for large businesses in the hospitality, tourism, and recreation industries. We will keep you updated once we hear more from ServiceNSW.

In a similar fashion for workers, the Federal Government has also announced a scale back of the Covid-19 Disaster payments based on the 70 percent and 80 percent double vaccination rate.

With a number restrictions still in place during October and November the NSW Government is wanting to help businesses as they face the challenges of re-opening their doors.

Our crystal ball is not working today so at this stage we remain optimistic for business owners as support tapers whilst much of the NSW economy is restarted.

If you have any questions about how these changes will affect your circumstances, please reach out to your Engagement Partner.