New Hardship Review Panel to provide more businesses with COVID-19 support

The Minister for Finance and Small Business, Damien Tudehope, said the new Hardship Review Panel will help businesses experiencing financial hardship that were previously ineligible for support payments and grants.

The panel will assess on a case-by-case basis businesses that did not meet the eligibility requirements for the 2021 COVID-19 Business Grant, Micro-Business Grant and JobSaver payments.

“COVID-19 has affected so many businesses in NSW and even though we have a number of support measures in place, there are still some businesses under severe financial strain that aren’t eligible for assistance for a number of reasons. We want to plug that gap as much as we can,” Mr Tudehope said.

The review panel will include representatives from Revenue NSW, NSW Treasury and Service NSW and will make recommendations on businesses’ eligibility for relevant support payments and grants.

The panel will consider a broad range of factors in determining whether a business has experienced financial hardship.

Some of those factors will include whether the business is an employer, in a highly impacted industry, in an LGA of concern or has unavoidable costs for which no other support is available.

Businesses will be back paid to the fortnight where they can demonstrate the required decline in turnover with the panel.

“My message to small businesses is this – no matter what corner of the state you’re in, we will be there with you all the way as we navigate this global health pandemic,” Mr Tudehope said.

Hardship applications for JobSaver are now open with hardship COVID Business Grants and Micro-Business Grants to open later this month.