Lockdown Relief – NSW COVID-19 Support Package Summary

As Greater Sydney, Wollongong and the Central Coast are about to enter week four of lockdown, the Federal Government and the NSW Government has expanded and increased the COVID-19 Disaster Payment. BridgePoint Group’s Mitchell Turnbull gives us a run through the NSW COVID-19 Support Package details for you. 

New Business Support Payment 

Starting with a new business support payment which will be administered by the NSW Government. The cost is being split 50/50 with the Commonwealth.  

The New Business Support Payment will be available to entities with an annual turnover between $75,000 and $50 million. To be eligible the entity must be able to demonstrate a 30% decline in turnover. 

The other eligibility is they will be required to maintain their full time, part time and long term causal staffing level as of 13th July 2021. 

If your entity is eligible, payments of between $1,500 and $10,000 per week will be made, based on your payroll level. 

Sole traders will have a payment set at $1,000 per week. 

Individual Support

The COVID-19 Disaster Payment commences from week four of lockdown. If an individual has lost 20 hours or more of work, the payment will be $600 a week. If an individual has lost between 8 hours and less than 20 hours per week, they will receive $375 per week. 

Outside the HotSpots 

From 18 July 2021 the COVID-19 Commonwealth Disaster Payment will be available to those affected who live outside hotspots. Eligibility criteria is the same as the New Business Support Payment.

The NSW Government will fund the support package to those outside declared hotspots, recognising the effect that the ongoing lockdown has on many regionally based businesses. 

Head Health 

These are hard times for a lot of people. The Commonwealth and NSW Governments have slated a delivery of more than $17.3 million in mental health support package for NSW. It will for services delivered through Lifeline, Headspace and Kids Helpline. The support is to assist families and businesses to get through this difficult period. 

Commentary 

The New Business Support Package will help an estimated 500,000 entities in NSW. The support packages are absolutely critical to keep NSW moving forward through this lockdown period. I am pleased the support extends to regional areas or those businesses not in hotspots. It is important to keep regional areas as healthy as possible. As we have seen previously, with the right level of support to keep businesses in business, the bounceback can be pretty quick. It is critical that businesses can keep trading throughout lockdown and be ready when the doors open again. This can only happen with continued Government support. 

If you need any assistance to access any of the COVID-19 support packages, please reach out to BridgePoint Group. Our team are experts at the process of getting you your entitled support. Please call 1300 656 141 or email info@bridgepointgroup.com.au