Hi all,

More grants have been announced and the relevant spiels are below.

But before you get to that, please, if you have time, fill in this survey from our friends at VTIC.  It’s important.  State Govt is funding an Industry Development program.  We are rolling out this program at a regional level over the next year (more to come on this at the DMT conference), with some activity being centralised.  By filling in this survey, you’re helping provide data that will enable VTIC to develop the Industry Development framework and look for efficiencies.

OK, grants…

I’ve shared these two before but no harm in repeating:

Business Continuity Fund
A $156 million Business Continuity Fund will be established to deliver $5,000 grants to up to around 30,000 businesses that remain impacted by capacity limits placed on businesses by necessary public health restrictions. Twenty-four eligible sectors are covered by the fund for businesses including gyms, cafes, restaurants, catering services, and hairdressers. Recognising businesses located in the CBD will continue to be impacted due to restrictions on the number of staff allowed in office buildings, they will be eligible to receive an additional $2,000.

Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund 2021
The Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund will receive a $70 million boost, with grants of up to $20,000 to support licensed venues as their operations continue to be impacted by current restrictions. These grants recognise that larger venues depend more on dine-in and have higher operating costs, so need more support than smaller operations. An additional $2,000 will also be made available to the business if it is located within the CBD.

This is for smaller-micro businesses that have missed out on other grants:

Small Business COVID Hardship Fund
A new $85 million fund will be established to support small businesses that have not been eligible under existing business support funds. Small businesses with a payroll of up to $10 million who have experienced a 70 per cent or greater reduction in revenue will be eligible for grants of up to $5,000.

Tenancy relief is back…

Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme
Fully funded by the Victorian Government, the reintroduced Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme will ease the pressure by providing rent relief for eligible tenants, while separate support will be provided to landlords who do the right thing by their tenants. The Scheme will be available to businesses with an annual turnover of less than $50 million and have suffered a decline in turnover of at least 30 per cent due to coronavirus. An $80 million hardship fund for landlords who provide rent relief to eligible tenants will be created, with further details to be confirmed in due course.

Premier’s announcement: https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/victorian-business-support-package

Cheers