According to an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey released yesterday, 73% of all Australian businesses accessed COVID-19 support measures, including deferred loan payments, renegotiated leases, wage subsidies and other government support measures.
Types of Business Support Measures Accessed
According to the survey, 55% of businesses reported that they had accessed wage subsidies (e.g. JobKeeper, etc) as a result of COVID-19. Additionally:
19% of businesses renegotiated property rent or lease arrangements;
16% of businesses deferred loan repayments;
38% of businesses accessed other government support measures.
Access to the business support measures varied significantly by industry, with uptake by industry as follows:
67% of businesses in the Education and training sector and 57% of businesses in Arts and recreation service accessed wage subsidies;
27% of businesses in Accommodation and food services reported that they deferred loan payments; and
26% of the Health care and social assistance industry renegotiated property or lease arrangements.
Reduced Revenue and Reduced Employee Hours Worked
Unfortunately, the survey has also revealed that 72% of businesses experienced reduced revenue; 53% reported that hours worked by staff had reduced, and 24% had to reduce their number of employees as a result of COVID-19.
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