Circuit Breaker Action Business Support Package

The Victorian government has announced a new $143 million package to compensate businesses for the impact of the snap 5-day lockdown that occurred between Friday February 12 and Wednesday 17 February this year. The package has four components for eligible businesses:

  1. the Business Costs Assistance Program
  2. the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund
  3. the Victorian Accommodation Support Program
  4. the Travel Voucher Scheme.

We will now briefly summarise each package component in turn.

The Business Costs Assistance Program

Businesses with an annual payroll less than $3 million (including businesses with no staff) can apply for a one-off $2,000 grant to cover cancelled bookings or the loss of perishable food due to the snap February lockdown. You must apply for this payment.

However, you will not be eligible for this payment if you received a payment from the Licensed Hospitality Venue Support Fund in 2020 (see below for an alternative one-off payment that you will receive instead).

The Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund

If your business has previously received a payment from this fund due to the financial impact of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns in Victoria, you are eligible for an additional one-off payment of $3,000.

You do not need to apply for this payment, you will receive it automatically if you are eligible.

The Victorian Accommodation Support Program

Two tiers of support are available for Victorian accommodation providers.

Tier 1

A one-off payment of $2,250 for premises that had up to 10  cancelled bookings during the snap 5-day lockdown in February.

Tier 2

A one-off payment of $4,500 for premises that had more than 10 cancelled bookings.

You need to register your interest for the relevant payment as soon as possible.

The Travel Voucher Scheme

A Melbourne Travel Voucher Scheme will launch soon to encourage travel and tourism for residents within Melbourne. 40,000 vouchers will be made available. Details of voucher amounts will be announced soon.

An additional 10,000 vouchers will be made available for travel in regional Victoria via an expansion to the 2020 Regional Travel Voucher Scheme, which provided vouchers of $200 to eligible applicants. Registrations for the vouchers will open on 30 March and travel must be undertaken between 6 April and 31 May 2021.

How we can help

Our experienced team of accounting and tax specialists at Wilson Pateras in Richmond can help your business to navigate these uncertain times.   

Contact us today to discuss your eligibility and to learn more about how the support package can help you and your business.

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