A COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant has been introduced to provide assistance to those businesses impacted by health restrictions in place from 27 December 2021, but are not eligible for the tourism, hospitality and gym grants (December 2021).
Grants of $6,000 for employing businesses and $2,000 for non-employing businesses will be available for businesses that have experienced a decline in turnover of 50% or more as a result of the COVID-19 health trading restrictions introduced from 27 December 2021.
A further grant of $2,000 will be available for eligible businesses (both employing and non-employing) with a commercial premise in the Adelaide CBD. This recognises the increased number of employees working from home (in line with health advice) and the impact this has on CBD businesses. The Adelaide CBD is defined as a commercial premise located in the 5000 postcode.
To be eligible for a grant, businesses must meet the criteria listed below as at the start of the restriction period of 12:01am Monday 27 December 2021:
- Be located/operating within South Australia.
- Have a valid and active ABN (Australian Business Number) and be registered for the GST.
- Have an Australia-wide grouped payroll of less than $10 million in the 2019-20 or 2020-21 financial year.
- Experienced at least a 50 per cent reduction in turnover due to the restricted trading conditions over the two weeks from 27 December 2021 (the commencement date of the trading restriction) to 9 January 2022 compared to:
- the comparable 2 weeks in 2019-20 for businesses actively trading in
2019-20; or - the comparable 2 weeks in 2020-21 for businesses not actively trading in 2019-20.
- the comparable 2 weeks in 2019-20 for businesses actively trading in
There is no ANZSIC code eligibility for the COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant. Businesses that have received a COVID‑19 Business Support Grant – December 2021 for the tourism, hospitality sector and gyms are not eligible for the COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant.
To be deemed an employing business, the business must employ people in South Australia.
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.
Businesses must be able to provide evidence of this reduction in turnover if requested and retain these records for 2 years from the date the grant was approved. Applications may be subject to audit.
Applications for the grant are open through the Department of Treasury and Finance application portal. Applications will close on 31 March 2022.
The eligibility guidelines and FAQs are available to assist in completing your application.
If you have any questions regarding the grant, please contact the COVID-19 Support Fund.