2021 COVID-19 QLD Business Support Grants – Is Your Business Eligible?

The Queensland Government is offering two grant payments to businesses impacted by the latest string of lockdowns imposed on Local Government Areas (LGAs) in South East Queensland and Cairns Region this August.

The payments are part of the Business Support Grants Program, which supports eligible employing Queensland small & medium businesses, and employing Queensland not-for-profit organisations (NFPs) impacted by the most recent lockdowns. The program is open to all Queensland entities who meet the below eligibility criteria, not just those entities located in one of the LGAs subject to a lockdown order.

Successful applicants will receive grant funding of either

• $10,000 for eligible businesses with payroll less than 1.3 million
• $15,000 for eligible businesses with payroll between 1.3 million and 10 million

The funding will be delivered in the form of two discrete payments:

1. An initial $5,000 upon assessment of the application, and
2. A top-up payment for the balance at a later point in time. (Further details are yet to be released by the Government)

Is Your Business Eligible?

At the time of applying, your business must:

• Employ staff, in addition to the business owners.
• Have continuously held an Australian Business Number (ABN) since 30 June 2021.
• Be registered for GST.
• Have a principal place of business located in Queensland.
• Not be insolvent or have owners/directors that are insolvent or bankrupt.
• Have an annual payroll of not more than $10 million (with exception to large tourism and hospitality businesses in the identified tourism and hospitality sectors available here) during any of the 2018-19, 2019-20 or 2020-21 financial years.
• Have an annual turnover of greater than $75,000 during any of the 2018-19,2019-20 or 2020-21 financial years (if the business is new, the business must provide financial records to indicate that the turnover threshold will be satisfied in the 2022 financial year).
• Demonstrate the business was directly or indirectly affected by a lockdown event.
  • Directly impacted businesses are those ones which were prohibited from operating as specified during the lockdowns.
  • Indirectly impacted businesses are those ones which were able to operate during the lockdown, or which were located outside of the lockdown areas.
• Demonstrate or declare a reduction in turnover of 30% or more during a nominated seven-day period, which must include at least one full day of a lockdown event when compared against turnover achieved by the entity during the same seven-day period in 2019.
  • If that 2019 period is not indicative of the entity’s typical weekly turnover however (for example, because the business was not operating then), a comparable seven-day period may be nominated by the business in its application.

Which Businesses Are NOT Eligible to Apply?

• Businesses and NFPs located outside of Queensland.
• Non-employing businesses and non-employing NFPs.
• Businesses and NFPs for which the only source of income consists of rents, dividends and/or interest payments.
• A person applying for an eligible business or NFP that has already received a grant under this program (i.e., only one grant will be approved for an eligible business).
• Businesses and NFPs eligible to receive income support through the Australian Government’s COVID-19 Disaster Payment (e.g., sole traders).

NOTE: The last item does NOT prevent business owners who are employed in their businesses from applying for the federal COVID-19 Disaster Payments in addition to the Queensland Business Support Grants. Business owners can apply for both items if they employ other staff in their business and they also satisfy the eligibility criteria for those Disaster Payments. This is because while Business Support Grants are targeted towards entities, the COVID-19 Disaster Payments are targeted towards workers who can demonstrate the requisite loss of working hours in a designated lockdown hotspot.

What Support Is Available to Non-Employing Entities?

A one-off $1,000 grant will be made available to non-employing sole traders if their decline in turnover is more than 30% due to Queensland’s lockdowns. Details about the eligibility requirements and application process for this program are yet to be released.

Next Steps

Applications can be submitted to the Queensland Rural & Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) from 16 August 2021 until 16 November 2021. There is no cap on the number of grants available, so all eligible businesses who apply during the three-month application period will receive funding.

Stay tuned to our channels for information about how to navigate the application process.

Date Published: 17 August 2021.