Public Servants from Revenue NSW, NSW Treasury and Service NSW are to combine their expertise on a new Hardship Review Panel to consider financial support for businesses finding the hardship too hard.
Announced by the Minister for Finance and Small Business, Damien Tudehope, the Review Panel will assess, on a case-by-case basis, businesses which did not meet the eligibility requirements for the 2021 COVID-19 Business Grant, Micro-business Grant and JobSaver payments.
Mr Tudehope said the Review Panel would make recommendations on the businesses’ eligibility for relevant support payments and grants.
“The Review Panel would help those businesses experiencing genuine financial hardship that were previously ineligible for support payments and grants,” Mr Tudehope said.
“It will consider a broad range of factors in determining whether a business has experienced financial hardship, with the Chief Commissioner of Revenue NSW to be ultimately responsible and make the final determination for applications,” he said.
“Factors that the hardship panel will consider include, for example, whether the business is an employer, in a highly impacted industry, in an LGA of concern or has unavoidable costs for which no other support is available.”
The Minister said that despite the support measures in place, some businesses were under severe financial strain and were not eligible for assistance for a number of reasons.
“We want to plug that gap as much as we can,” Mr Tudehope said.
