Hi all,

Some good news today, with an announcement of further business support packages.  There’s a fair bit of detail to come, and we should be able to provide this early next week.  We also have a useful Q&A link below that answers many of the questions that have been raised over the last few days.  Read on…
 
Government announcement today
The State Government announced the provision of cash grants for struggling businesses, mental health support for business owners, relief for tourism operators who can no longer welcome Melbourne-based visitors for holidays, and tailored and targeted advice for businesses.  Read the release here https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/more-survival-support-for-victorian-businesses/

There’s a lot more detail expected early next week. A summary of the State’s Business Survival Package can be read here https://www.business.vic.gov.au/support-for-your-business/grants-and-assistance/business-survival-package
 
Business Victoria Regional Tourism Support Program
The State Government is supporting regional accommodation businesses affected by the latest lockdown on Melbourne.   It has announced a program to assist operators cover the cost of refunds.

This will be available to tourism accommodation businesses regional Victoria, up to $225 per night, per ‘publicly available bookable offering’ (meaning something available to the general public on a public booking site), and up to $1125 for each bookable accommodation offering that was cancelled as a result of the Melbourne lockdowns and border closures, that have not been rebooked. 

The program opens the week of 13 July 2020 and will close on 19 August 2020.  Program Guidelines are currently being finalised and will be published online on the business.vic.gov.au website early next week. 
 
There are some conditions:
Bookings must have been made before lockdowns and border closures were announced and cancelled after these announcements.
Businesses need an ABN registered before 30 June 2020 to be eligible.
Register your interest via the link below.
https://www.business.vic.gov.au/support-for-your-business/grants-and-assistance/business-survival-package/regional-tourism-support-program. 
 
Q&A sheet answering key questions
We have been fielding calls about a number of topics, including Travelling through the restricted area en route to the regional Victorian destination, Extension of Stay, Refusal of Service and ‘Can businesses be fined for unintentionally providing service to someone who lives in a restricted area?’ 

These questions are answered in a document you can find here.
The Government is working on more detailed information about the various issues you’re all facing, and these will be released soon.  These points in the link are a quick summary, provided by Stuart Toplis, who many of you know.
 
We’ll keep the information coming.  This is what we know for now, but as mentioned above, we expect more detail and info early next week.
 
Cheers
 
Steve and the DMT Team