Ahead of an unpredictable time, it’s important to be aware of the support available to shore up your business continuity and resilience plans to support your employees, customers and suppliers.

I wanted to share the following important sources of information and support with you and reassure you that the Queensland Government has acted quickly to assist local government, business and industry with resilience and recovery strategies to deal with and mitigate impacts of coronavirus and is working to ensure business continuity is maintained.

The Queensland Government has announced the Immediate Industry Recovery Package to assist business and industry to implement resilience and recovery strategies to mitigate impacts of COVID-19. 

This Queensland Government support includes:

• A new Jobs Support $500 million loan facility, interest free for the first 12 months, has been created to support businesses to keep Queenslanders in work and will comprise loans of up to $250,000
• Payroll tax deferment - All Queensland businesses impacted by the coronavirus outbreak can defer lodging and paying payroll tax until 31 July 2020.
• $27.25 million coronavirus industry recovery package to assist local government, business and industry with resilience and recovery strategies. It includes targeted financial support and advice, promotion for Queensland, and counselling and support

On 18 March, the Queensland Government introduced urgent reforms to help ensure supermarkets stay well stocked. Changes to the planning conditions, to come into effect in days, will address current restrictions on the operating hours of loading docks and distribution centres supplying supermarkets.

This information, as well as potential further support measures, will be updated regularly by the Queensland Government so I encourage you to monitor it: https://www.qra.qld.gov.au/funding-programs/event-specific-exceptional-circumstances-assistance/2021-22-queensland-rainfall-and-flooding-exceptional-circumstances-package/industry-recovery-and-resilience

Expressions of interest for the new Jobs Support Loans can be registered at www.qrida.qld.gov.au.

Information on the deferral options is available at https://www.business.qld.gov.au/.

The State government has also created an Online Business Impact Survey. Please complete the survey to help us understand the impact of novel coronavirus on your business and assess what support you need.

https://www.business.qld.gov.au/starting-business/advice-support/support/novel-coronavirus

The Australian Government has also announced an economic response including: business investment support, assistance with cash flow for employers, household stimulus payments and targeted assistance for the most severely affected regions.

To access the Australian Government’s support visit: https://treasury.gov.au

Finally if you have any questions in relation to COVID-19 I urge you to review the Queensland Health website: https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19