Victoria's Circuit Breaker Action Extension to Business Support Package

Victoria's business community has been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and with the recent circuit breaker lockdown further impacting businesses, the Victorian State Government has announced a further $143 million package to support impacted Victorian businesses. The four parts of the package include:-

1. Business Costs Assistance Program - a one-off grant of $2000 for eligible employers to assist with costs incurred as a result of the circuit breaker action.
2. Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund - Circuit Breaker Action Payment - a further $3000 one-off payment for eligible businesses who previously received a grant via the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund (no need to apply for this, the Government will contact previous recipients).
3. Victorian Accommodation Support Program which is an expansion of the Regional Tourism and Accommodation Support Program - to support accommodation providers whose bookings were cancelled due to the circuit breaker action. This program will open soon and if you think you are eligible you can register your interest now.
4. Travel Voucher Schemes expanding the existing Regional Travel Voucher Scheme with an additional 10,000 vouchers for regional travel and adding a further 40,000 vouchers for travel within Melbourne

The details of some of these initiatives are available HERE (the eligibility criteria and program guidelines are not yet available for the Business Costs Assistance Program) but we wanted to highlight this announcement for the benefit of our Victorian clients who may be eligible to claim any of the benefits under this extension to the previous package. As always, if you need any assistance with these or other grants, don't hesitate to contact us.