One of the sore points for sole-traders who have lost work during Melbourne's shutdown is that they are not eligible for grants if they earn below $75,000. Whether the state actually spends that allocated money is up to whether businesses apply for the grants and are successful in getting them.Īs of Wednesday morning, the Victorian government had received 72,800 applications for grants under its Business Costs Assistance Package and 5,800 under its larger Licensed Hospitality Venues Fund.Īssuming most of those grants get paid out, the sum total to the Victorian government could go anywhere from a few hundred million to in excess of $400 million.Ī spokesperson for the state Treasurer said the first payments of these grants will be issued this week.īusinesses need to attest in applying for the grants that they are helping workers access paid leave but there is nothing forcing grant money to be passed onto staff. It has just topped up that amount with extra grants for Melbourne businesses that still cannot reopen on Friday under eased restrictions, such as gyms and yoga studios. The Victorian government has now announced about $500 million in grants for small to medium businesses impacted by the latest shutdown. The state maintains that welfare is a matter for the Commonwealth while it should handle business impacts, which was essentially the deal made at National Cabinet for the emergency welfare payments. "My understanding is that is not forthcoming." What has the state been doing for workers? "I can confirm that Tim Pallas, our Treasurer, reached out to the federal Treasurer to advocate for continuation of support," he said. Victoria's acting premier James Merlino told reporters on Wednesday that it is understood the emergency payments will stop.
In a statement, the Department of Health said the CMO "is scheduled to review the listing for the Commonwealth Hotspot for Greater Melbourne".
If that is the case, the federal government will have provided emergency welfare support for one week in total. It is unclear if this declaration ending as planned will turn the tap off on further emergency payments for Melbourne workers. That current declaration ends today on June 10. The country's Chief Medical Officer declared Greater Melbourne as a hotspot on June 4 for the purposes of its residents to receive Commonwealth support. Melbourne has just experienced its fourth COVID lockdown. "We're also concerned about people being ineligible if they've got some paid work, even though they've lost hours," she said. The chief executive of the Australian Council of Social Services, Dr Cassandra Goldie, said she is "pleased" that some payments were made to impacted workers. "Not being given the chance to apply gives students a huge unfair disadvantage, putting more stress on what is already an incredibly stressful time." Emergency payments likely to end today "If I had the opportunity to apply for the (emergency) payment of $325, it would have helped me marginally rather than not at all. "I pay $650 in rent per month, leaving me roughly $40 to live off per week. "Without the lockdown I had $418 a week to live off, however over the last two weeks that has been reduced to $258," they said.
( Supplied: Sami Zehir)Īnother masters student on Austudy told ABC News they are in a similar predicament after losing their one-day-a-week job at a retail plant store in Melbourne. Melbourne student Sami Zehir (right) usually supplements his Youth Allowance payments with casual work as water safety officer.
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