"Small businesses help create vibrant, exciting communities and we want them to thrive throughout the COVID-19 period and beyond." - Small Business Minister Reece Whitby
Within Western Australia, the first round of COVID Lockdown Assistance Grant which covered the ANZAC long weekend has closed with over 2,500 SME's who enrolled receiving the one-off payment of $2,000. This amounted to over $5 Million in support to those small businesses impacted by the ANZAC Long weekend. Initial figures had estimated that the impact on SME would be far greater with the WA Government indicating that it had allocated $30 million to businesses in Perth, Rottnest, and Peel regions affected by the 3-day ANZAC Day long weekend lockdown.
So indications are that even though the WA Government had expected a significant number of applications to claim in Round 1 it was still well short of expected numbers.
"The Anzac Day weekend lockdown was a critical step to protect Western Australians from the threat of COVID, but it meant many businesses lost stock and endured the impact of cancellations" Premier Mark McGowan
Small Business Lockdown Assistance Grant - Round Two, June 2021
Western Australia introduced a "circuit breaker" lockdown that was applied from Tuesday 29 June 2021 until 12.01am, Saturday 3 July, 2021. This was a measure introduced by the WA Government as a proactive measure to prevent the risk of possible community spread of COVID variants at the time. To support WA Small businesses that are eligible a Second Lockdown Assistance Grant was introduced to assist those impacted by the Lockdown.
A $3,000 Lockdown Assistance Grant is now able to be applied for by eligible businesses.
AM I ELIGIBLE?
To be considered eligible the following criteria need to be met:
1. Be located within Western Australia.
2. Have an annual turnover of $75,000 or more and be registered for GST.
3. Have a valid and active ABN (Australian Business Number).
4. Have an Australia-wide payroll of less than $4 million in the 2019-20 financial year.
5. Be able to provide evidence that the primary business activity fits into one of the industry activities listed below, (based on the applicants ABN registration and ANZSIC classification code) and depending on your business location:
5.1 Perth, Peel and Rottnest
If your business is located in Perth, Peel and Rottnest, the primary business activity must be in one of the following (ANZSIC 2 ) industry categories to be eligible for this grant:
Hospitality
Cafes and restaurants
Catering services
Clubs (hospitality)
Pubs, taverns and bars
Retail
Bakeries
Florists
Hairdressing and beauty services
Specialised food retailing
Tourism
Accommodation
Scenic and sightseeing transport
Sport and Recreation
Amusement parks and centres
Health and fitness centres and gyms
Outdoor recreational activities
Sport and physical recreation
Creative and Performing Arts
Creative artists, musicians, writers and performers
Performing arts operations
Performing arts venues
Other
Cinemas
Food wholesalers
Goods and equipment rental
6. Have suffered a financial loss as a direct result of the lockdown period, such as the loss of perishable goods or incurred costs associated with cancelled bookings, OR Experienced at least a 30 per cent reduction (compared to the prior week) in turnover due to restricted trading conditions.
Businesses must be able to provide evidence of this financial loss or reduction in turnover if requested and retain these records for 12 months from the date the grant was approved. Applications will be subject to audit.
7. Agree to the program’s Terms and Conditions. Please read these carefully as the applicant will be legally bound once they have submitted their grant application.
HOW DO I APPLY?
The process to apply for this Round of Grants is managed online through the Small Business website requiring you to have an account registered with the Smarty Grants site:
You will need to have some information at hand to upload to support your application this includes:
1. If you were successful in the First Round of Grants (ANZAC Lockdown) they will ask for your LAG number. This was emailed to you when first submitting your application and again when the Grant was approved. (ie LAG00001)
2. ABN Details need to be submitted and active (will be queried online and confirmed)
3. Bank Details - Bank account needs to be under the same name as the applicant company (not personal bank accounts). They will ask for a PDF or an Image of a recent Bank Statement clearly showing the name of the Account Holder (Business) to match to the Business Name Registered to ABN.
4. Drivers Licence Number of the Applicant (proof of identity)
Other than the above four details the rest of the form just requires you to submit information about the type of Business, How it operates and details of the location the business is based at. You will need to include any links to your website, Facebook pages, Instagram or other social media platforms.
If you don't have all the information at hand then you can save it and come back at a later date.
Once submitted you will receive an email notification confirming your application has been received and there is a short process of a couple of weeks whilst the Small Business Department busily work through the applications. Based on feedback for the Round 1 Business Lockdown Grant for ANZAC weekend the funds were released 21 - 28 Days after the application was submitted - and was on average 1 - 5 days after receiving notice that the Grant Application was approved.
We recommend going to the FAQ pages within their website as there is a lot of information readily available that covers most circumstances.
The team at Halal Food encourage all business impacted by the Lockdown to apply for the Grant and if in doubt to contact the Department of Small Business.