Latest Government Initiatives
Need help navigating the support available?
Not to worry, we have you covered!
RDA Orana compiles our debrief to sift and sort just for you and bring you the latest information on support and training and the links to take you directly to the information you need.
The list below will be updated regularly, but to make sure you get the latest, sign up to our COVID-19 Daily Debrief direct to your inbox. Simply register on this page.
Business Support
Fair Work & Modern Award Changes
Types of business entities (specific)
Export
- Austrade
- Export Market Development Grants (EMDG)
- Export Clearance for some industries
- Freight
- METS Sector
Employees
Agriculture
Manufacturing
Indigenous Business
Tenancies
Rebates - Energy & Utilities
Aviation
- COVID-19 Regional Airline Network Support Program
- COVID-19 Regional Airlines Funding Assistance
- Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure - Aviation
Tourism
Business Support
Education & Training
$1 Billion Working for NSW Fund
Small Business
Become and emergency supplier
Department of Planning Industry & Environment FREE Energy Management
Tourism
Australian Fair Work Ombudsman
There have recently been some changes to workplace laws to support employees and employers during the coronavirus pandemic.
JobKeeper scheme
The Fair Work Act has been amended to support the implementation and operation of the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme (JobKeeper scheme) in Australian workplaces. These changes are temporary and will end on 28 September 2020.
The JobKeeper scheme helps employers significantly affected by coronavirus to keep paying their employees, by providing a subsidy administered by the Australian Tax Office. The changes also give eligible employers the ability to give certain directions to and make agreements with their eligible employees to help manage their business.
Find out details about the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme, including how it affects and interacts with Pay and Leave entitlements.
Unpaid pandemic leave & annual leave changes to awards
The Fair Work Commission has added a temporary new schedule into 99 awards to provide greater flexibility during the coronavirus pandemic. The temporary schedule gives employees:
- 2 weeks of unpaid pandemic leave
- the ability to take twice as much annual leave at half their normal pay if their employer agrees.
The schedule applies from an employee’s first full pay period on or after 8 April 2020 until 30 June 2020. Find out more at Unpaid pandemic leave & annual leave changes to awards.
The Fair Work Commission has also made other temporary changes to some awards to provide more flexibility during the coronavirus outbreak – see Temporary changes to workplace laws during coronavirus.
Annual Wage Review
The Fair Work Commission is in the process of carrying out its annual review of minimum wages. A decision is expected sometime in June. You can follow the process on the Fair Work Commission’s website
Helpful resources - Coronavirus and Australian workplace laws
If your workplace is impacted by coronavirus, they have information about your workplace rights and obligations. This includes information about:
- stand downs and reducing hours or changing location of work, including working from home
- pay and leave entitlements, including if someone is sick with COVID-19
- entitlements if an employee is stuck overseas or is required to be quarantined or self-isolate
- ending employment and redundancy entitlements.
For more information, see Coronavirus and Australian workplace laws.
Apprentice & Trainee Support
The Australian Government has contributed $1.3 Billion to supporting small business to keep and support trainees and apprentices affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. More information can be found here.
Department of Primary Industries
There is a DPI Liaison Team available to assist you in navigating throughout this pandemic.
Visit their portal for specific updates here
Or you can contact the liaison team directly via email covidinfo@dpi.nsw.gov.au
They have lots of resources specifically designed for primary industry.
Export Update!
The Australian Government is pleased to announce that they are one step closer to helping rebuild critical global supply chains for Australia’s agricultural and fisheries exporters. Six Freight Forwarders and nine air freight service providers were appointed to provide freight services on key export routes under the International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM).
The aim of the Mechanism is to reduce the impacts of COVID-19 on the Australian agricultural and fisheries sectors. To this end, the government will meet a portion of the airfreight costs – reducing costs for exporters and ensuring they can get their produce on flights and to international customers quickly. The Mechanism intends to use a range of approaches including charter services and block purchases of capacity.
To find out more about the mechanism, head to the website.
Please register your interest by completing and submitting the form available at haveyoursay.agriculture.gov.au/international-freight-assistance.
IMPORTANT: If you have already submitted an EOI before 16 April 2020, please note that you will need to resubmit the form with additional information. This additional information will inform which air freight routes are prioritised by the IFAM.
Export Finance
Export Finance Australia is available for support and finance solutions for Australian exporters. Check out how they may be able to assist your business here.
Journalism Support
Applications are open for a four-week period, closing on 22 May 2020, for the Regional and Small Publishers Innovation Fund 2020 Round. Funding of $5 million is available which has been fast tracked by the Australian Government to assist regional news publishers with the significant challenges being faced during the COVID-19 crisis. Find out more here.
Banking Hotlines
The Prime Minister and Treasurer have reaffirmed the Government’s expectation that the banks help assist businesses to secure finance to participate in the $130 billion JobKeeper program.
For your reference, the banks have set up hotlines as follows:· ANZ: 1800 571 123· Bank of Melbourne: 1300 784 873· Bank SA: 1300 669 472· CommBank: 13 26 07· NAB: 1800 JOBKEEPER (1800 562 533)· St George: 1300 730 196· Westpac: 1300 731 073
NSW Department of Planning, Industry & Environment
DPIE has some useful resources available for you and your energy usage.
They have introduced a new free online learning platform to up-skill your employees to help your business save money on energy. There are resources available too and you can connect with technical experts to help you implement projects.
Get a one on one enregy check up with an energy coach to help you identify large energy usage equipment in your workplace. They can show you ways to cut costs and emissions. It's a free service with an aim to save you money.
Compressed Air or Steam Systems - Manufacturing Efficiency Funding
There is money and resources available to the manufacturing industry who use compressed air or steam systems in their workplace. Yours could be costing a lot more than it needs to and they have extended this program to July 3.
Other Initiatives:
Early Childhood Education & Care Relief Package: From Monday 6 April 2020 weekly payments will be made directly to early childhood education and care services in lieu of the Child Care Subsidy and the Additional Child Care Subsidy, to help them keep their doors open and employees in their jobs. Payments will be made until the end of the 2019-20 financial year and families will not be charged fees during this time. More information can be found here.
NEW NSW Department of Regional NSW: The NSW Government has announced the establishment of the new Department of Regional NSW to better support communities, businesses and farmers in the bush that have endured drought, bushfire and flood and now face the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. More information can be found here.
NSW Emergency Supplies Registration: In NSW, the State Government have announced a registration scheme for businesses with capacity to provide critical supplies, raw materials or manufacturing capability to produce critical supplies during the COVID-19 crisis. The following link provides further information:
Supplies registration portal - SCM8821
$1.1B For Mental Health, Medicare & Domestic Violence Services: The Federal Government has announced more support for the secondary effects of COVID-19, with a $1.1B package to boost mental health services, domestic violence support and Medicare assistance for people at home and emergency food relief. Read the breakdown of this package here.
COVID-19 Information App: An app is now available to access direct information on a range of features including health advice and updates on the measures that are being put in place by state and federal governments. To access this information:
- Go to WhatsApp and type in ‘aus.gov.au/whatsapp’.
- Apple app store: the coronavirus app.
Findex Resources: As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, the future of many Australian businesses grows increasingly uncertain. The team at Findex has designed a Government Stimulus Health Check to help you take full advantage of the recently announced government stimulus packages. They also invite you to download their FREE Business Wellbeing Toolkit to help you manage risk within your business.
Need some quick factsheets?
The Australian Government has created a page with factsheets on all the current packages available in one easy to access spot. Take a look here.
COVID-19 Information in your Language
The Government is providing information about COVID-19 initiatives in more than sixty (60) languages. This can be accessed via the following links: