$15 billion JobKeeper extension announced amid COVID-19 developments

Written by K+P Team | 7 August 2020

Amid Australia's second COVID-19 wave and the introduction of stage 4 restrictions in Victoria, a $15 billion extension to JobKeeper has been announced with new, relaxed eligibility requirements.

The overhaul is designed to help Australians, particularly in Victoria, who are currently facing the loss of up to 400,000 jobs. The update is predicted to help thousands of Victorian businesses qualify for the scheme and 1.5 million Victorian workers access the income support.

It is believed an additional 530,000 Victorian employees will now join the JobKeeper program over the September quarter, taking the state’s total to 1.5 million workers.

The new eligibility criteria and turnover test will apply to all businesses Australia-wide. While the changes will help across the country, $13 million of the $15 million extension is expected to flow into Victoria according to Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg.

What are the new eligibility changes?

For Businesses / Not-for-profits:

From September 28, businesses will only need to show that their GST turnover has fallen over the previous quarter (Sept 2020 quarter) instead of across multiple quarters. This removes the previous requirement that businesses also had to show a loss in the June quarter.
- e.g. to be eligible for the January - March quarter, you will need to show significant decline in the December quarter relative to a comparable quarter (corresponding 2019 quarter).
- This is an update from the previous announcement which stated that to be eligible, businesses would have to record losses across all preceding quarters (June, September and December).
Businesses will now be required to demonstrate their losses using actual GST turnover, rather than projected GST turnover.
The decline in turnover rates remain the same (50% for businesses with an aggregated turnover of over $1 billion, 30% for businesses with a turnover of less than $ billion and 15% for not-for-profits and charities)

For Workers:

Workers will now qualify for JobKeeper if they were employed on July 1, rather than March 1.
New employees will be eligible for JobKeeper payments dating back to August 3.

Reminder:

The initial JobKeeper scheme will finish on September 28, with businesses and employees needing to apply for the extension.
The Government has extended the JobKeeper Payment to now end in March 2021, instead of September 2020 under new eligibility as detailed above.
A two-tiered JobKeeper payment rate has been introduced to segment employees based on hours work. Click here for more information on the new rate.
If a business or not-for-profit does not meet the turnover test for the extension period, this does not affect their eligibility prior to 28 September 2020. However, they will not be eligible for the extension to March.
The JobKeeper Payment will continue to remain open to new recipients, provided they meet the eligibility requirements and the turnover tests that apply during the relevant JobKeeper Payment period.

To see the Treasurer's official JobKeeper extension fact sheet, please click here

Wondering how the extension impacts you, your business or your employees...

If you have any questions, please contact your local Kelly+Partners office today.

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