Australian Venue Co ineligible for JobKeeper because of Coles bottle shop partnership

A Townsville pub manager claims a “sneaky loophole” is stopping more than 1400 staff, including many in the city, from $1500 fortnightly JobKeeper payments.

A TOWNSVILLE pub manager claims a “sneaky loophole” is stopping more than 1400 staff, including many in the city, from $1500 fortnightly JobKeeper payments.

Queensland has an arcane liquor law that says liquor stores can only operate if attached to a pub.

Hotel Allen manager Jayden Evans explained this blurred the JobKeeper criteria as venues owned by Australian Venue Co – including Hotel Allen, The Royal, The Mansfield Tavern and Toms Tavern – were in a joint partnership with bottle shops owned by Coles.

While the pubs closed in March, bottle shops have been thriving.

The income from the bottle shops is stopping 1472 Queensland hotel workers from accessing JobKeeper.

Mr Evans said workers were still eligible for $1100 fortnightly JobSeeker payments but were missing out on hundreds of dollars because of the “sneaky loophole”.

“They only share the licence, that’s literally the only link between (Australian Venue Co) and Coles,” he said.

“Even though we don’t get any revenue from the bottle shops. The part that’s annoying is it’s only affecting Queensland.”

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Mr Evans estimated up to 15 Hotel Allen staff would not be eligible for JobSeeker payments along with dozens more from the other Townsville venues. “There’s casuals I had working for me that had no annual leave. They’ve gone almost a month without pay,” he said.

“Now they have been denied access to JobKeeper. It’s a real punch in the guts.”

Australian Venue Co has written to Treasury to ask for special consideration after 1472 workers across its 87 venues were found ineligible to receive JobKeeper payments.

The company’s state manager, Scott Brydson, said the team was experiencing anxiety and frustration at the situation, and was concerned the Federal Government would not make the changes fast enough.

“The $130 billion JobKeeper payment will support up to six million Australian workers by providing fortnightly payments of $1500 per employee,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said. “At a cost to taxpayers of $130 billion, some limitations had to be put in place to ensure the program was ultimately sustainable and to reflect that bigger businesses have larger balance sheets and better access to finance.”

Originally published as Australian Venue Co ineligible for JobKeeper because of Coles bottle shop partnership