Hundreds of residents apply for JobKeeper each month

New data reveals alarming number of Rose City businesses that remain dependant on the coronavirus assistance.

STILL IN NEED: Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg speaks at a construction site at as data reveals the sector is one of the most dependant on JobKeeper. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Troy Snook

NEW data reveals Warwick could be a long way off a smooth economic return from coronavirus, as JobKeeper applications remain steady 10 months after its implementation.

The Australian Treasury revealed the Rose City records an average 484.4 applications per month.

In comparison, Stanthorpe had 320.4.

While applications reached a high of 605 in July, August results minimally improved at 590.

But despite the findings, Rose City business owners report they’re on a return.

The Physiotherapy Centre practice manager Katie Hay said in June they applied for the stimulus after huge numbers of cancelled appointments meant they were struggling to find work for many of their staff.

Now they were looking for new staff and hadn’t had to reapply for the second round of funding.

“We’re back on track now, there’s no more cases in Warwick and consumer confidence has returned,” Mrs Hay said.

The positive news was welcomed, considering healthcare ranked second for the sectors most reliant on JobKeeper, ranking second only to the science sector and followed closely by construction and accommodation/hospitality services.

Mrs Hay said it would hard to determine how different businesses would fare in the long run.

“For some industries, the long-term effect hasn’t come into play entirely, while different (stimuluses) have helped the construction industry and similar, I’d say it’s hard to know yet,” she said.

“Another outbreak could happen but we keep moving forward while we can to see what happens in 2021.”

It comes as the Australian Government scaled back JobKeeper payments in September from $1500 to $1200.

On January 3, that will further drop from $1200 to $1000, with plans to end the payment completely in March 2021.

According to small business owner Mrs Hay, the best failsafe against further job loss would be to support local.

“I think being a small town, the best we can do is support one another in order to see our town do great things,” she said.

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