WA Government COVID-19 Grants – Important Update

WA Government COVID-19 Grants – Important Update

On 27 April 2022, the WA State Government announced an expansion of the Level 2 COVID-19 Business Assistance Packages to offer more support to local businesses. 

The Wanneroo Business Association urges all small businesses impacted by COVID-19, including those who did not qualify under the initial criteria, to check their eligibility against the revised criteria and apply online.  A summary of the  recent updates to the WA Government COVID-19 Grants are:

• Small Business Hardship Grants Program payment amounts increased and eligibility criteria expanded to assist more businesses
• Payroll tax relief originally provided to large hospitality now available to more businesses

What packages are currently available for my business?

Visit the Small Business Development Corporation website for a full breakdown on all the current WA Government COVID-19 Grant Packages, and the links to apply.

Small Business Hardship Grants (Expanded Program)

The main announcement relevant to Wanneroo Business Association members were around the Small Business Hardship Grant.  To be eligible for this grant businesses must have:

• An active Australian Business Number (ABN).
• Australian payroll of less than $4 million.
• Annual turnover of more than $50,000, excluding GST.
• The ability to demonstrate a reduction in turnover for any consecutive two-week period between 1 January 2022 to 30 April 2022, compared to the equivalent period in 2021 (an alternative period in 2021 may be used if the business did not operate at that time or it provides an inaccurate representation of the business’ financial situation.)
  • For the 40 per cent tier, a reduction of at least 40 per cent.
  • For the 30 per cent tier, a reduction of at least 30 per cent.

For the purpose of this calculation, the business owner is excluded from the FTE calculation, but the below two tiers apply: 

This program is open to all eligible businesses that meet the criteria. Applicants may only be found eligible for one tier of the Small Business Hardship Grants (Expanded Program).

APPLY HERE – Applications close at 4pm AWST on Thursday 30 June 2022 – if you have already applied you do not need to reapply, the new tiers will automatically be applied to your application.

The original eligibility criteria for the Small Business Hardship Grants was a 50 per cent reduction in turnover threshold over any consecutive two-week period between January 1, 2022 and April 30, 2022, relative to the comparable period last year.  This has also been lowered to a 40 per cent reduction over a consecutive two-week period to help more businesses qualify.

The value of grants has also been increased depending on the size of the business and the number of employees, with payments to sole traders increased from $3,000 to $5,000, and payments to micro businesses increased from $7,500 to $10,000.