COVID-19 Business Support Grant guidelines

Please read these Guidelines before applying for the Small Business Grant.

Summary

The Government of South Australia has established a Business Support Grant to support South Australian businesses and organisations that do not employ staff and whose turnover has significantly declined as a result of COVID-19 health restrictions since 20 July 2021.
Eligible businesses will be provided with a once-off $1,000 grant to support them in these difficult circumstances.
This document provides guidance for Business Support Grant (non-employing business) applicants. Please read these Guidelines before applying for the Business Support Grant (non-employing business).

Eligibility

Non-employing businesses are eligible to apply for a Business Support Grant provided they meet the following criteria: At the start of the COVID-19 health restriction period of 12:01am Tuesday 20 July 2021:

Have a valid and active Australian business number (ABN) and were carrying on the operation of a business in South Australia.
Did not employ people.*
Have an annual turnover of more than $75,000 (excluding GST) in either 2019-20 or 2020-21 and be registered for GST.
Have total Australian payroll of less than $10 million in 2019-20.
Experienced at least a 30 per cent reduction in turnover in the week defined as Tuesday 20 July 2021 – Monday 26 July 2021 (inclusive) (compared to the prior 7-day period) due to restricted trading conditions^^.
The enterprise does not engage in illegal activity.

*To be considered an employee, staff must be under the control of the business, receive regular PAYG salary or wages, and have Pay As You Go Withholding amounts as well as superannuation paid by the employer. An owner, partner, or beneficiary of a trust is not considered to be an employee for the purpose of this grant.

^^Businesses will be required to declare a reduction in turnover due to restricted trading conditions. They will not be required to provide any supporting information at the time of application but will be required to retain supporting information that could be made available if required such as:

Turnover comparison data for the week prior to the assessment period;
Emails or texts to or from clients or suppliers detailing cancelled orders or appointments;
Receipts for refunds provided;
Invoices or delivery dockets;
Appointment/scheduling platform, demonstrating cancelled appointments or bookings; and / or
Screenshots of cancelled events

Non-employing businesses are not eligible to apply if persons associated with the business, and who derive income from it, have applied for, or are receiving, the Commonwealth COVID-19 Disaster Payment.

Applicants must certify that they meet the eligibility criteria when submitting an online application.

Applicants will be subject to audit by the Government of South Australia or its representatives and will be required to produce evidence at the request of the Government for a period of 2 years after the grant has been approved.

If any information in applications is found to be false or misleading, the grant will be repayable on demand.

Available Funding

The grant amount is $1,000 per eligible business. Where multiple non-employing businesses meeting the eligibility criteria are controlled by one individual, company, partnership, or trustee, funding will be restricted to one grant for all non-employing businesses controlled by the individual, company, partnership, or trustee.

Grant Use

Grants are provided to support eligible businesses that have been adversely impacted by restrictions enacted by State or Commonwealth government due to COVID-19. This may include for example:

Meeting business costs, including utilities, rent;
Seeking financial, legal or other advice to support business continuity planning;
Developing the business through marketing and communications activities; and / or
Other supporting activities related to the operation of the business.

How to Apply

Applicants are required to submit an application online via the COVID-19 Business Support Grant – Application Portal. All questions in the application need to be completed to ensure timely assessment and grant payment.

The online application must be completed by an Authorised Officer, being:

In the case of a business that is a sole trader, the sole trader.
In the case of a business that is a partnership, a partner.
In the case of a business that is a body corporate, a director, secretary, public officer or equivalent.

Note: It is permissible for an agent such as an accountant or lawyer to submit the application on behalf of business provided they have been instructed to do so by the above Authorised Officer.

Applicants must meet the requirements of the grant to be eligible.

Business Support Grants (non-employing business) will be provided to successful applicants by the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF). Whether an applicant is successful or not will be determined by DTF in its absolute discretion. To access grant funding, applicants will be required to agree to the Terms and Conditions at the time of application stipulating obligations and conditions under which assistance will be given to eligible applicants. DTF will not be legally obliged to pay any grant monies to an applicant.

Potential applicants should note that information received in connection with an application may be used and communicated outside the Government of South Australia for due diligence purposes and may also be provided to the Commonwealth Government and third parties engaged by DTF to assist with the assessment and processing of the applications received, together with program monitoring, reporting, auditing and evaluation purposes.

Opening Date

Applications open on 29/7/2021

Applications must be submitted via the Business Support Grants (non-employing business) form.

Closing Date

Applications close midnight 30 September 2021

Further Information

If you require further information to participate in the program please refer to the FAQs or contact BusinessSupportGrant@sa.gov.au.

DTF reserves the right to amend these Guidelines and application terms as required.

Applicants should be aware that DTF is subject to certain legislative and administrative accountability and transparency requirements of the Commonwealth Government and Government of South Australia, including public disclosure in accordance with Premier and Cabinet policy.

DTF will treat all information provided by applicants sensitively. Any information contained in, or relating to, an application, including information identified by an applicant as confidential, may be disclosed by DTF:

to its employees, advisers or third-parties in order to assess, process and/or audit an application;
within the Government of South Australia or other entities where this serves the legitimate interest of DTF;
in response to a request by a House or Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia or South Australia;
where information is authorised or permitted by law to be disclosed; and/or
where the information is already in the public domain.

Summary

The Government of South Australia has established a Business Support Grant to support South Australian businesses and organisations that employ staff and whose turnover has significantly declined as a result of COVID-19 health restrictions since 20 July 2021.

Eligible businesses will be provided with a once-off $3,000 grant to support them in these difficult circumstances.

This document provides guidance for Business Support Grant (employing business) applicants. Please read these Guidelines before applying for the Business Support Grant (employing business).

Eligibility

Employing businesses are eligible to apply for a Business Support Grant provided they meet the following criteria: At the start of the COVID-19 health restriction period of 12:01am Tuesday 20 July 2021:

Have a valid and active Australian business number (ABN) and were carrying on the operation of a business in South Australia.
Employ people in South Australia.*
Have an annual turnover of more than $75,000 (excluding GST) in either 2019-20 or 2020-21 and be registered for GST.
Have total Australian payroll of less than $10 million in 2019-20.
Experienced at least a 30 per cent reduction in turnover in the week defined as Tuesday 20 July 2021 – Monday 26 July 2021 (inclusive) (compared to the prior 7-day period) due to restricted trading conditions^^.
The enterprise does not engage in illegal activity.

* To be considered an employee, staff must be under the control of the business, receive regular PAYG salary or wages, and have Pay As You Go Withholding amounts as well as superannuation paid by the employer. An owner, partner, or beneficiary of a trust is not considered to be an employee for the purpose of this grant.

^^ Businesses will be required to declare a reduction in turnover due to restricted trading conditions. They will not be required to provide any supporting information at the time of application but will be required to retain supporting information that could be made available if required such as:

Turnover comparison data for the week prior to the assessment period;
Emails or texts to or from clients or suppliers detailing cancelled orders or appointments;
Receipts for refunds provided;
Invoices or delivery dockets;
Appointment/scheduling platform, demonstrating cancelled appointments or bookings; and / or
Screenshots of cancelled events.

Applicants must certify that they meet the eligibility criteria when submitting an online application.

If any information in applications is found to be false or misleading, the grant will be repayable on demand.

Available Funding

The Business Support Grant (employing business) grant amount is $3,000 per eligible business.

Grant Use

Grants are provided to support eligible businesses that have been adversely impacted by restrictions enacted by State or Commonwealth government due to COVID-19. This may include for example:

Meeting business costs, including utilities, salaries, rent;
Seeking financial, legal or other advice to support business continuity planning;
Developing the business through marketing and communications activities; and / or
Other supporting activities related to the operation of the business.

How to Apply

Applicants are required to submit an application via the COVID-19 Business Support Grant – Application Portal. All questions in the application need to be completed to ensure timely assessment and grant payment.

The online application must be completed by an Authorised Officer, being:

In the case of a business that is a sole trader that employs, the sole trader.
In the case of a business that is a partnership that employs, a partner.
In the case of a business that is a body corporate that employs, a director, secretary, public officer or equivalent.

Note: It is permissible for an agent such as an accountant or lawyer to submit the application on behalf of business provided they have been instructed to do so by the above Authorised Officer.

Applicants must meet the requirements of the grant, including that they employ staff to be eligible.

Business Support Grants will be provided to successful applicants by the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF). Whether an applicant is successful or not will be determined by DTF in its absolute discretion. To access grant funding, applicants will be required to agree to the Terms and Conditions at the time of application stipulating obligations and conditions under which assistance will be given to eligible applicants. DTF will not be legally obliged to pay any grant monies to an applicant.