On 21 July 2020 the Australian Government announced an extension on the JobKeeper lifeline for eligible Australians. The JobKeeper Payment will be extended in the form of a two-tiered payment by six months to 28 March 2021. This brings some positive light to business owners as the original cut off for JobKeeper was due to end the 27th September this year.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the extra assistance would continue to support hundreds of thousands of Australians who are without work and offer businesses and their workers a much needed lifeline to not only get through the Covid crisis and recover on the other side.

“We will have Australian’s backs as we face the ongoing impacts of COVID-19,” the Prime Minister said.

Businesses and not-for-profits will need to meet the eligibility by demonstrating they have suffered an ongoing significant decline in turnover in their June and September quarterly turnovers.

Employers will need to then reassess their eligibility for the JobKeeper Payment for the March quarter and be required to demonstrate that they have met the relevant decline in actual turnover in each of the previous three quarters ending on 31 December 2020 to remain eligible for the JobKeeper Payment in the March quarter 2021.

If your business currently receives JobKeeper, your arrangements will generally remain unchanged until 27 September 2020.

For more information on the new JobKeeper payments please click here.