• $72 million package for businesses most impacted by Level 2 public health measures
• Tiered grants for small and medium businesses, with a 50 per cent reduction in turnover over four weeks
• In addition to $67 million Level 1 COVID-19 Business Assistance Package, $77 million Safe Transition Industry Support Package and the $185 million Reconnect WA package
• WA's strong budget has provided financial capacity to deliver immediate assistance
• Fifth business assistance package launched since December, with McGowan Government now having committed almost $1.7 billion to COVID business support

The McGowan Government has today announced a $72 million package for businesses most impacted by Level 2 public health and social measures, taking the total committed to COVID business support to almost $1.7 billion.

The Level 2 COVID-19 Business Assistance Package includes a $66.8 million Small Business Hardship Grants Program, $2.8 million of payroll tax relief for large hospitality businesses and $2.1 million for a COVID-19 Commercial Sporting Franchises Support Program.

The Small Business Hardship Grants Program will provide tiered grants to businesses that have a 50 per cent or greater reduction in turnover for any four week period between January 1, 2022 and April 30, 2022, relative to the same period last year. This will include:

• $3,000 grant for sole traders (no employees);
• $7,500 grant for micro businesses (those with one to five employees);
• $20,000 grant for small businesses (those with six to 19 employees); and
• $50,000 for medium-sized businesses (those with 20 or more employees and with an annual payroll of up to $4 million). 

This program will provide support to all eligible businesses that meet the criteria - including the hospitality, arts and events industries.

This follows support provided through a number of recent arts and events support programs, including the revamped $10 million Getting the Show Back on the Road+ program, $3 million Event Suppliers Support Program, the $1.3 million Performing Arts, Theatres and Cinemas Assistance Program, and an additional $9 million to attract major events to WA.

Eligible businesses that apply and receive funding from other recent business support programs, including the Level 1 COVID-19 Business Assistance Package, are also eligible to receive grants from the Level 2 package.

Large hospitality businesses with payrolls of between $4 million and $20 million will receive a three-month payroll tax waiver if they have experienced at least a 50 per cent drop in turnover over any four week period between January 1, 2022 and April 30, 2022, comparable to the same period last year.

The $2.1 million COVID-19 Commercial Sporting Franchises Support Program includes a $35,000 rebate per game for venue hire costs until June 30, 2022, for commercial sporting franchises, such as the Perth Glory, Perth Wildcats, Perth Lynx and the Western Force.

This program also includes the waiver of public transport charges for home games for these teams in March - and a 50 per cent concession on public transport costs for events in April.

This waiver of public transport charges will also benefit a number of upcoming live music events.

It is expected that applications to these programs will open later this month.

This is the fifth COVID-19 business support package the McGowan Government has launched since December.

These include the $67 million Level 1 COVID-19 Business Assistance Package, $77 million Safe Transition Industry Support Package, Targeted Small Business Assistance Grants, nightclub payments and revamped GTSBOTR+ and the $185 million Reconnect WA package to safely re-engage with the world.

More information at www.wa.gov.au.

Comments attributed to Premier Mark McGowan:

"In Australia, the data shows that once a jurisdiction hits one thousand new cases a day, the peak of the Omicron outbreak is only a few weeks away.

"The latest advice is that we should now expect to see WA reach the peak of cases in the next two weeks or so.

"That is how fast we expect Omicron to spread here and why we've had to move quickly to implement Level 2 public health and social measures.

"While we hope these measures will only need to be in place for a short time, or about four weeks, we know that there will be an impact on businesses regardless.

"My Government is committed to doing everything we can to help protect WA businesses, local jobs and the economy from the full brunt of COVID-19.

"That is why we have now committed more than $420 million in business support since December, and a total of almost $1.7 billion since the beginning of the pandemic.

"We know that WA is about to enter its rockiest month - but under these Level 2 measures businesses can continue to operate safely, so I encourage everyone to do the right thing, follow the health advice and support local businesses.

"With our world-leading vaccination rates and safe and sensible measures in place, Western Australians can have confidence to continue to support WA businesses.

"We will get through this, together."

Premier's office - 6552 5000