New hardship panel to provide more businesses with COVID-19 financial support

A new Hardship Review Panel has been established to consider financial support for businesses experiencing financial hardship that do not qualify for COVID-19 business support measures.

The panel will assess on a case-by-case basis businesses which did not meet the eligibility requirements for the 2021 COVID-19 Business Grant, Micro-business Grant and JobSaver payments.

Minister for Finance and Small Business Damien Tudehope said the Review Panel would help those businesses experiencing genuine financial hardship that were previously ineligible for support payments and grants.

“COVID-19 has affected so many businesses in NSW and even though we have a number of support measures in place, there are still some businesses under severe financial strain that aren’t eligible for assistance for a number of reasons. We want to plug that gap as much as we can,” Mr Tudehope said.

The Review Panel will include representatives from Revenue NSW, NSW Treasury and Service NSW and will make recommendations on businesses’ eligibility for relevant support payments and grants. 

It will consider a broad range of factors in determining whether a business has experienced financial hardship, with the Chief Commissioner of Revenue NSW to be ultimately responsible and make the final determination for applications.

“My message to small businesses is this – no matter what corner of the state you're in, we will be there with you all the way as we navigate this global health pandemic,” Mr Tudehope said.

Factors that the hardship panel will consider include, for example, whether the business is an employer, in a highly impacted industry, in an LGA of concern or has unavoidable costs for which no other support is available.

Businesses will be back paid to the fortnight where they can demonstrate the required decline in turnover with the Panel. Hardship applications for JobSaver are now open with hardship COVID business grants and Microbusiness grants to open later this month. More information about hardship applications are available.