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Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update.

Queensland Border Zone Extensions from October 1st

Queensland’s border zone will be extended to 5 local government areas in NSW starting October 1st. These areas include: Byron, Ballina, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Glen Innes councils.

South Australia-NSW Borders to Open at Midnight

South Australia will reopen its borders to New South Wales at midnight, after NSW recorded another day with no community transmission. This means NSW residents entering SA will no longer have to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

From midnight, the only part of Australia barred from entering South Australia is Victoria.

Business Resilience Package for Victorian Businesses

The Victorian government is investing $3 billion in cash grants, tax relief, and cashflow support to aid businesses hit by the tight restrictions and help them prepare for COVID Normal. There are three categories of support in this package: Business Support, Business Adaptation, and Waivers and Deferrals.

Included in Business Support is the third round of the Business Support Fund for small- and medium-sized business ($822 million), with applications opening on 18 September 2020.

Meanwhile, Business Adaptation involves funding, tools, and resources to help businesses adapt to COVID Normal. Tax and cashflow support amounting to $1.8 billion will be provided by the government under the Waivers and Deferrals scheme.

For a detailed rundown of the inclusions of the Business Resilience Package, click here. Let us help you assess your eligibility and gain access to government support! Get in touch with us so we can schedule a consultation.

Sole Trader Support Fund

The Victorian Government has announced the Sole Trader Support Fund for eligible non-employing businesses affected by COVID-19 restrictions. Under this scheme, sole traders will receive a grant of $3,000.

Grant applications will open in the coming days and the full list of eligibility criteria will be published soon. We will keep you updated as soon as more information is available.

Federal Government Announces $50 M Grant for Business Events Industry

The Federal Government has confirmed a $50 million grant for Australia’s business events industry, which will enable organisers of business events to apply for upfront grants that will cover up to 50% of their costs (between $10,000 and $250,000).

Aside from getting the business events industry back on their feet, this will also pave the way for businesses to connect through consumer and trade shows and conferences.

If you need expert business advice in growing your network amidst the pandemic, feel free to drop us a message.

Second Round of Cash Flow Boost

If you’ve received initial cash flow boosts, you will automatically get a second round of cash flow boost when you lodge your activity statements for each monthly or quarterly period from June to September 2020.

If you lodge:

• quarterly, you’ll receive 50% of your total initial cash flow boost for each activity statement
• monthly, you’ll receive 25% of your total initial cash flow boost for each activity statement.

If you receive some funds into your account from the ATO and aren’t sure what it relates to, feel free to get in touch with us and we can investigate.

More details can be found in the ATO website.

Reminder: JobKeeper and JobSeeker Changes from 28 September

Read our article covering the actions you may need to take.

Government-backed COVID-19 Loans Extended

The government is extending its small business COVID-19 loans scheme until June 2021. If you need help to access these loans or you want to find out if you are eligible, don’t hesitate to drop us a message.

Sleep is NOT for the Weak

Significant changes in the way we live brought by the pandemic, such as extended periods of lockdown, work from home setup, and social restrictions, have blurred the lines between life and work. Sometimes people forget even the simplest self-care habits such as getting enough rest.

Sleep is as close to a panacea as we are likely to get in our lifetimes: it helps us recover from injuries and illness, plays a vital role in memory formation, and helps keep us healthy. Disrupting our sleep has an adverse impact on nearly every system in our bodies.

The uncertainties due to the current global crisis also cause high levels of stress. In a recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, it was found that unemployment disrupts sleep, along with other negative impacts on health and well-being.

Even if you’re not unemployed, the pandemic has been stressful enough that many people are experiencing ‘coronasomnia.’ In this article, a Harvard Business Review editor describes her experiments with four different tactics to get better sleep. The one that worked best for her was setting aside all electronics and screens for two hours before bedtime.

These have been unusual times that are impacting nearly everyone on the planet. We hope that you are finding ways to make this a time not just for survival but for growth as well!

Government Launches Business Continuity Website to Support Businesses Amid COVID-19

The Australian Government has launched the Australian Business Continuity website to support businesses with staff working remotely amid the pandemic.

The site provides free practical tools for remote communications, collaboration, workforce management, and video conferencing, as well as advice on how to best use teleworking services.

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Contact us if you have any questions.