26 March 2020

Assistance for organisations

This alert provides a summary of Australian Government measures available to businesses during the Coronavirus pandemic.

There are a number of new financial support measures for small businesses and not-for-profit organisations to provide assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Support for NDIS participants and providers: The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has introduced measures to support NDIS participants and providers, including a one-off advance payment for NDIS registered providers to assist in the expected temporary increase in costs to deliver supports due to COVID-19. Eligible providers have been emailed with further details.
• Temporary price limit increase for some NDIS supports: Price limits for some supports have been increased temporarily and participants will be required to give 10 business days’ notice for a cancellation if they want to avoid paying the full fee for a cancelled service.
• Cash flow assistance for businesses: The Australian Government is providing up to $100,000 to eligible small and medium sized businesses, and not-for-profits (including charities) that employ people, with a minimum payment of $20,000. These payments will help cash flow so they can keep operating, pay their rent, electricity and other bills and retain staff.
• Increased instant asset write-off: The Australian Government is increasing the instant asset write-off (IAWO) threshold from $30,000 to $150,000 and expanding access to include all businesses with aggregated annual turnover of less than $500 million (up from $50 million) until 30 June 2020.
• Temporary relief for financially distressed businesses: For owners or directors of businesses that are currently struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will tailor solutions for their circumstances, including temporary reduction of payments or deferrals, or withholding enforcement actions including Director Penalty Notices and wind-ups.
• Business.gov.au helpline: The business.gov.au helpline (13 28 46) will now be open seven days a week. It will provide additional hours of support outside standard operating hours, answering calls from 7am to 11pm AEST.
• Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme: The Coronavirus Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Guarantee Scheme will support up to $40 billion of lending to SMEs. Under the Scheme, the government will guarantee 50 per cent of new loans issued by eligible lenders to SMEs.
• Deferral of loan repayments for small businesses: Australian banks will defer loan repayments for six months for small businesses who need assistance because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other assistance can include fees waived, loans restructured, and further credit offered to get through the pandemic.  

Further information, alerts and resources

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) information webpage on the NDIS Commission website contains links to updates, training, alerts and other resources.

For more information about the Government’s stimulus package, visit Treasury’s Economic Response to the Coronavirus

For news advice and updates across all Government departments, visit australia.gov.au

Contact Us

• Call: 1800 035 544 (free call from landlines). Our contact centre is open 9am to 4.30pm in the NT, 9.00am to 5.00pm in the ACT, NSW, QLD, SA, TAS and VIC Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.
• Email: contactcentre@ndiscommission.gov.au
• Website: www.ndiscommission.gov.au

Links to previous COVID-19 provider alerts 

• 24 March 2020: Information for support workers and access to PPE
• 19 March 2020: Business continuity planning
• 17 March 2020: Online training module for support workers
• 9 March 2020: Provider obligations and COVID-19 health information
• 7 February 2020: Information about the novel coronavirus outbreak