Business Hardship Grant Guidelines

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

Summary

The Government of South Australia has established a COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant to provide assistance to small and medium businesses that have been significantly impacted by COVID-19 restrictions but haven’t been eligible for previous business grant support since July 2021.

Eligible non-employing businesses will be provided with a once-off $2,000 grant to support them in these difficult circumstances.

This document provides guidance for COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant (non-employing business) applicants. Please read these Guidelines before applying.

Eligibility

Non-employing businesses are eligible to apply for COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant provided they meet the following criteria.

General eligibility criteria

At the start of the restriction period of 12:01am Tuesday, 20 July 2021 a business must:

Have a valid and active Australian business number (ABN) and were carrying on the operation of a business in South Australia.
Be registered for the GST.
Not employ people in South Australia.*
Have a total Australian grouped payroll of less than $10 million in the 2019-20 financial year.
Not be engaged in illegal activities.

In addition a business must:

As a consequence of COVID-19 restrictions between 20 July 2021 (beginning of lockdown) and 31 August 2021 (impacted period), have experienced a reduction in turnover of at least 50 per cent for a consecutive two-week period when compared to the same two-week period within the Benchmark Period in 2019 (note alternative arrangements are available for businesses who do not have a trading history in 2019).^

Other criteria

Businesses will not be eligible to receive a COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant if they have received support under any of the following State Government COVID-19 support packages launched on and after 20 July 2021:

COVID-19 Business Support Grant – July 2021;
COVID-19 Additional Business Support Grant;
COVID-19 Tourism and Hospitality Grant; or
COVID-19 Major Events Support Fund.

* 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 relevant assessment periods;
Emails or texts to or from clients or suppliers detailing cancelled orders or appointments;
Receipts for refunds provided;
Invoices or delivery dockets.

Turnover comparison criteria

An eligible non-employing business must declare and retain evidence of the following:

A relevant two week period between 20 July 2021 (beginning of lockdown) and 31 August 2021 (Impacted Period) where they experienced a 50 per cent reduction in turnover when compared to the same two week period within the Benchmark Period in 2019 (or 2021);

The Impacted and Benchmark Periods are defined as incorporating the dates within:

Impacted Period: 20 July 2021 to 31 August 2021
Benchmark Period:
- For businesses that were actively trading in 2019: 20 July 2019 to 31 August 2019, or
- For businesses that were not actively trading in 2019: 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021.

To calculate whether the applicant satisfies the 50 per cent reduction in turnover test the following steps are required:

Select a consecutive two-week trading period within the Impacted Period where the business turnover was impacted by COVID-19 restrictions.
Select the same consecutive two-week trading period as a Comparison Point within the Benchmark Period.
Calculate the reduction in turnover using the following formula,

Reduction in turnover % = [1-(GST turnover in two-week impacted period/GST turnover in two-week benchmark period] x 100

If the reduction in turnover (as calculated using this formula) is less than 50 per cent, then the business is not eligible for this program.

Comparison point:

For businesses actively trading in 2019, the comparison point should be a two week period at the same time of the year unless there are exceptional reasons as to why a different time is chosen, noting that slight adjustments for trading days are acceptable; or
Businesses not actively trading in 2019, should reflect the average fortnightly trading activity for the business between 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021.

Determining a benchmark period:

The benchmark period must be between 20 July 2019 and 31 August 2019 unless there are exceptional circumstances that affected your turnover that include:

natural disasters;
sickness, injury or leave of key personnel;
acquisition, disposal, or restructure that changed the entity’s turnover;
a business was not trading in 2019; or
a business’ start-up phase.

In these circumstances, a business can declare and retain evidence of a reduction in turnover of 50% or more over a consecutive two-week period between 20 July 2021 and 31 August 2021 by comparing to the average fortnightly trading activity between 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021.

General requirements

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.

Grant Amount

The COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant (non-employing business) amount is $2,000 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, 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 online via the 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 to be eligible.

COVID-19 Business Hardship 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 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 17 September 2021.

Applications for the COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant (non-employing business) must be submitted via the Application Portal

Closing Date

Applications close midnight 31 October 2021

Further Information

If you require further information to participate in the program please refer to the FAQs or contact BusinessHardshipGrant@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

Eligible employing businesses will be provided with a once-off $6,000 grant to support them in these difficult circumstances.

This document provides guidance for COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant (employing business) applicants. Please read these Guidelines before applying.

Eligibility

Employing businesses are eligible to apply for COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant provided they meet the following criteria.

General eligibility criteria

At the start of the restriction period of 12:01am Tuesday, 20 July 2021 a business must:

Have a valid and active Australian business number (ABN) and were carrying on the operation of a business in South Australia.
Be registered for the GST.
Employ people in South Australia.*
Have a total Australian grouped payroll of less than $10 million in the 2019-20 financial year.
Not be engaged in illegal activities.

In addition a business must:

As a consequence of COVID-19 restrictions between 20 July 2021 (beginning of lockdown) and 31 August 2021 (impacted period), have experienced a reduction in turnover of at least 50 per cent for a consecutive two-week period when compared to the same two-week period within the Benchmark Period in 2019 (note alternative arrangements are available for businesses who do not have a trading history in 2019).^

Other criteria

Businesses will not be eligible to receive a COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant if they have received support under any of the State Government COVID-19 support packages launched on and after 20 July 2021, including:

COVID-19 Business Support Grant – July 2021;
COVID-19 Additional Business Support Grant;
COVID-19 Tourism and Hospitality Grant; or
Major Events Support Grant.

Turnover comparison data for the relevant assessment periods;
Emails or texts to or from clients or suppliers detailing cancelled orders or appointments;
Receipts for refunds provided;
Invoices or delivery dockets.

Turnover comparison criteria

An eligible employing business must declare and retain evidence of the following:

A relevant two week period between 20 July 2021 (beginning of lockdown) and 31 August 2021 (Impacted Period) where they experienced a 50 per cent reduction in turnover when compared to a same two week period within the Benchmark Period in 2019 (or 2021);

The Impacted and Benchmark Periods are defined as incorporating the dates within:

Impacted Period: 20 July 2021 to 31 August 2021
Benchmark Period:
- For businesses that were actively trading in 2019: 20 July 2019 to 31 August 2019, or
- For businesses that were not actively trading in 2019: 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021.

To calculate whether the applicant satisfies the 50 per cent reduction in turnover test the following steps are required:

Select a consecutive two-week trading period within the Impacted Period where the business turnover was impacted by COVID-19 restrictions.
Select the same consecutive two-week trading period as a Comparison Point within the Benchmark Period.
Calculate the reduction in turnover using the following formula,

Reduction in turnover % = [1-(GST turnover in two-week impacted period/GST turnover in two-week benchmark period)] x 100

If the reduction in turnover (as calculated using this formula) is less than 50 per cent, then the business is not eligible for this program.

Comparison point:

For businesses actively trading in 2019, the comparison point should be a two week period at the same time of the year unless there are exceptional reasons as to why a different time is chosen, noting that slight adjustments for trading days are acceptable; or
Businesses not actively trading in 2019, should reflect the average fortnightly trading activity for a business between 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021.

Determining a benchmark period:

The benchmark period must be between 20 July 2019 and 31 August 2019 unless there are exceptional circumstances that affected your turnover that include:

natural disasters;
sickness, injury or leave of key personnel;
acquisition, disposal, or restructure that changed the entity’s turnover;
a business was not trading in 2019; or
a business’ start-up phase.

General requirements

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.

Grant Amount

The COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant (employing business) amount is $6,000 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 online via the 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.

Opening Date

Applications open on 17 September 2021.

Applications for the COVID-19 Business Hardship Grant (employing business) must be submitted via the Application Portal.

Closing Date

Applications close midnight 31 October 2021.

Further Information

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

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

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.

Business Hardship Grant Guidelines

Business Hardship Grant (Non-Employing Business)

Business Hardship Grant (Employing Business)