COVID-19: Government assistance programs COVID-19: Government assistance programs COVID-19: Government assistance programs

There are ongoing funding and cashflow programs available to assist private, mid-market and family businesses that continue to be, or that are newly impacted by, COVID-19.

Due to the emergence of new variants, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a serious impact on our people, our communities and our businesses – here and around the world. Federal and state government responses to the economic and social impact of the pandemic include relief payments and concessions for individuals and businesses.

We have compiled another guide detailing the latest funding and cash flow programs that are available to your business if it’s being affected by COVID-19.

Whilst not universal, some common eligibility criteria include:

• evidence of the impact COVID-19 has had on the organisation
• restricted to SMEs with a limited number of employees (e.g. <200) and aggregated turnover (e.g. <$50m).

Please note that every program has unique eligibility requirements and, if you are applying for one, care must be taken to ensure that the specific program criteria are met.

Further, some programs offer cash grants whilst others offer tax credits, special tax treatment, vouchers, etc. For more specific eligibility criteria and detail on existing COVID-19 grants, please refer to our more detailed guide linked below.

Most funding and cash flow programs require some evidence of eligibility. Keep key documents to hand to prove eligibility if your business needs to apply. Typically, some of the documents required are:

• proof of business registration
• proof of impact or potential impact of COVID-19 (e.g. order cancellations)
• evidence of business being an SME, having less than the relevant threshold of employees and aggregated turnover.
  

Since March 2020, the Federal Government has provided billions in stimulus packages to help business and the Australian economy. Our detailed guide above provides information on current programs.

You can find out about the measures announced as part of the Federal Government’s March 2022 Budget by visiting our Federal Budget 2022 page.

Additionally, if these government funding and cash flow programs do not meet your specific needs, discretionary funding approaches may be made to local, state or federal members of parliament for circumstances that warrant funding on their own merit.

Other privately funded programs may also be available to you and your organisation and many financial institutions keep a list of better-known program or may have their own assistance packages.

Many of these funding and cash flow programs have a deadline which it is important to be aware of. These deadlines vary by program and, for longer standing programs, change from time to time. We recommend you contact us if you are looking for the most up to date information.