Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. We’re thinking of everyone affected by lockdowns around the country and encourage you to reach out if you have any questions about your business during this time. Read on for assistance that may be available to you. Tougher COVID-19 Restrictions in Melbourne New stricter COVID-19 restrictions came into effect…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Australia’s Path to Reopening International Borders Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a four-stage plan which will determine when COVID-19 restrictions can be eased. In a nutshell, 80% of Australian adults will have to be vaccinated before international borders can open. So far, about 15.7% of adults have been fully…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Australia Drops COVID-19 Vaccine Target Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he won’t set a new target date for Australians to get vaccinated, as concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine and European export restrictions delay the rollout of the programme. Despite this, Australia is still ahead of some nations including Canada,…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Trans Tasman Travel Bubble to Begin 19 April Australia and New Zealand will create a quarantine and COVID-testing free travel bubble starting 19 April. However, flights to and from some Australian states may cease if there are future outbreaks. Australians made up 1.5 million or 40% of arrivals to…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. COVID-19 Vaccination Drive On Track, Says PM Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the vaccination drive against COVID-19 is on track to meet the target of having everyone inoculated by October, despite delays. As of 7 March 2021, the total number of people who have been vaccinated stands at 86,369.…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Government Committed to Vaccinating All Australians by October Although the vaccinations are currently behind the target set for the end of February, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says the government stays committed to getting all Australians inoculated by the end of October. The Australian Defence Force will also assist…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Australia Aims to Vaccinate Entire Population by End of 2021 Australia will spend more than $1.9 billion on equipping hospitals and health centres to administer COVID-19 vaccines that will see 26 million Australians vaccinated by the end of the year, according to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Morrison said a…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Australia Set for 10th Day of No Local COVID-19 Cases Australia is on track for its 10th consecutive day of no new local COVID-19 cases, with NSW hoping to ease restrictions this week after controlling a fast-spreading cluster. Meanwhile Victoria, which is hosting the Australian Open tennis tournament, has…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s updates and some ideas that will help us all overcome this crisis. South Australia Now Open to Victoria Since 12.01am on Tuesday, the border with Victoria has been reopened, allowing travel between the two states. Victorians entering South Australia are still required to fill in an online permit…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s updates and some ideas that will help us all overcome this crisis. Australia Opens Up More Borders in Domestic Travel Australia will lift more internal state border restrictions in a boost for tourism as new COVID-19 cases slow to a trickle, while the first vaccines could be available…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s updates and some ideas that will help us all overcome this crisis. Australia Starts Fourth Quarter on Stronger Economic Footing Flash Australia PMI signals faster output growth in October as COVID-19 restrictions loosen. The IHS Markit Flash Australia Composite PMI, covering both manufacturing and service sectors, increased from…  Read more

The economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis are causing significant financial distress for many businesses and individuals. If your SMSF has a related party loan and is impacted due to the financial effects of COVID-19, you may be able to provide your LRBA with relief under an agreed commercial arrangement. Ordinarily, not paying market interest rates in an SMSF is usually a breach of superannuation laws. However, the ATO have…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. $800m Digital Business Plan to Drive Economic Recovery The Australian Government has announced a Digital Business plan to enable businesses to take advantage of digital technologies to grow their businesses and create jobs in the wake of COVID-19. PM Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the…  Read more

Countries in recession, unemployment rates rising, multiple economic indicators at their all-time lows, increased market volatility– these are just some of the economic impacts we’re seeing as a result of the pandemic. As we continue to battle the COVID-19 crisis, it is important for everyone, especially those who have had their income stream affected, to keep their finances in check and proactively find ways to navigate to recovery. By creating…  Read more

The Australian Government has extended and expanded the Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy, to include medium-sized businesses who had an eligible apprentice in place on 1 July 2020. This may be of particular interest to employers who are not eligible for the JobKeeper extension. What is the Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy? The Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy is part of the Australian Government’s COVID-19 Economic Response.…  Read more

The Australian Government announced that JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments will be extended, with changes starting on 28 September 2020. Below is a rundown of the changes to expect on these support schemes. Changes to JobKeeper The JobKeeper scheme will continue until 28 March 2021. The extension of the scheme will operate in two separate periods: Extension 1: 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021 Extension 2: 4 January 2021 to…  Read more

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…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. Melbourne’s Roadmap to ‘COVID Normal’ A staged plan to ease Melbourne out of tight COVID-19 restrictions has been released. Stage 4 restrictions will remain in place for another two weeks with some minor changes, and will start to ease further from 28 September. The final step should…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. Australia To Extend Bankruptcy Protection Rules Until End of 2020 Australia will extend its temporary insolvency and bankruptcy protection rules until the end of this year, providing businesses a lifeline to recover from the impacts of COVID-19. The rules, which were first introduced in March and originally…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. COVID-19 Cases in Victoria Fall to Seven-Week Low Victoria, the epicentre of Australia’s second wave of COVID-19 infections, has reported a significant drop in the number of new cases, reaching a near two-month low. This is good news as the total lockdown in Melbourne is set to…  Read more

The JobKeeper Payments Amendment Bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on Wednesday 26th August. We appreciate your patience as we process these changes This Bill introduces the extension of the JobKeeper scheme that was announced last month. The proposed rate changes will see the current $1500 per fortnight payment drop to $1200 for full time workers. and $750 for those working less than 20 hours per week from…  Read more