Jane Howlett,Minister for Small Business
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is continuing to support our small business sector with a new round of COVID-19 Business Impact Support grants.
While we know that our economy is strong and that many businesses are doing well, we recognise some are doing it tough.
To assist those facing challenges, the Government has made more funding available through our new COVID-19 Business Impact Support Program which provides support for businesses that are experiencing reduced trading caused by a loss of staff due to COVID that has affected the business' ability to operate, or loss of business due to significantly lower than usual customer demand.
Funding for the second round will be available to businesses that have experienced a reduction in business due to COVID-19, for the period 15 January 2022 to 14 February 2022.
Importantly, we have doubled the maximum funding amount available to $10,000, with the minimum amount remaining at $1,000, depending on business turnover.
Payments of between $1000 and $5000 will also be available to businesses that experienced an unavoidable loss of perishable goods because they have had to close for seven days or more. Payments will be tiered according to business turnover.
We have listened to what businesses are telling us and have made changes to the program to offer additional support and simplify the application and approvals process to make it easier for businesses to access support in a timely way.
As of 7 February, almost 500 businesses have been able to access more than $1 million in assistance through the first round of our COVID-19 Business Impact Support Program.
Since 2020, Tasmanian businesses have received more than $160 million in COVID-specific support programs, and during the height of the pandemic in 2020, our Government provided the highest level of support for businesses per capita of any state or territory in the country.
As we now transition to living with COVID, our Government will continue to support our small business sector.
Round two of our COVID-19 Business Impact Support Program will open on Tuesday, 15 February 2022 at 2pm.
To be eligible, businesses must have had a COVID-19 Safety Plan and a completed risk assessment in place and, where required, a COVID-19 Case and Outbreak Management Plan, and have been using the Check in Tas app.
Businesses that received assistance through round one of the program may still be eligible to apply under round two.
