The Federal Government’s JobKeeper payments have been cut again: What it means for you
Hundreds of thousands of Australian businesses are still relying on JobKeeper payments to survive despite the fortnightly amounts being cut again.
Saver HQ
Don't miss out on the headlines from Saver HQ. Followed categories will be added to My News.
About half of all businesses which sought JobKeeper support are still reliant on the wage subsidy program which is being cut today.
New Australian Taxation Office data shows 520,373 businesses were receiving wage subsidies in December but this has plummeted from the 1.036 million businesses on the scheme at the end of October.
And Victoria remains the state most reliant on the wage subsidy program with 196,900 needing financial support, followed by NSW at 167,946 and Qld at 81,301.
In the December quarter about $7 billion was paid out in wage subsidies alone.
And the industries with the most businesses on JobKeeper payments included construction (89,600), professional, science and technical services (78,800), transport, postal and warehousing (52,200), other services (45,000), administrative and support services (33,000), accommodation and food services (30,600) and retail (28,960).
From today, JobKeeper payments will be reduced from $1200 per fortnight to $1000 fortnight for workers doing more than 20 hours per week.
For employees doing less than 20 hours a week JobKeeper payments will drop from $750 to $650 a fortnight.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the nation’s economy was rebounding as hundreds of thousands of Australians returned to work but there was still some way to go.
“With 734,000 jobs created over the last six months our economic recovery is well underway with fewer businesses and their employees in need of JobKeeper and other temporary economic supports,” he said.
“That said, JobKeeper continues to be an economic lifeline to more than half a million businesses employing around 1.6 million Australians in the December quarter.”
Mr Frydenberg said the Morrison Government had paid more than $7 billion in JobKeeper in the December quarter including $2.8 billion into Victoria and $2.3 billion into NSW.
“Our Economic Recovery Plan is designed to rebuild our economy and to help Australians to either stay in a job or to find work,” he said.
Cafe owner Vicki Manakas said without JobKeeper her business at Surry Hills in inner Sydney wouldn’t have survived.
“It’s been so helpful but it will be hard when its cut again,” the 68-year-old said.
She opened Cook and Archies cafe 16 years ago and said at the beginning of the pandemic revenue was down by 95 per cent.
Mrs Manakas said it was vital nearby workers returned to the office because her business was heavily reliant on them.
“We do breakfast and lunch and are open seven days and we do takeaway for office workers but they haven’t been around, we need them back,” she said.
“However we understand with the current outbreak we don’t want to put people at risk.”
Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia’s chief executive officer Peter Strong said many businesses would be reassessing staff numbers as JobKeeper gets wound back.
“They will work out how many staff they can keep and they will be making decisions based on projected income and that income will be less because JobKeeper is going.”
“In January for some businesses it’s a good month while for others they are probably closed anyway.”
The latest national unemployment rate is 6.8 per cent and more than 1.45 million people are still receiving JobSeeker payments – previously known as Newstart.
The coronavirus supplement paid on top of JobSeeker was cut from $250 a fortnight to $150 this month and it will cease at the end of March.
JobKeeper payments are also due to finish on March 28.
More Coverage
Originally published as The Federal Government’s JobKeeper payments have been cut again: What it means for you
Why having more than one super fund can be good for you
Superannuation fund members have long been urged to combine their accounts to save money, but sometimes it pays to double up.
The best ETFs of the past five years
Exchange traded funds, which let investors buy into entire sectors or markets with just one transaction, are going from strength to strength. But some ETFs are stronger than others.