Millions of hard-hit Australians will start receiving $1,500 JobKeeper payments TODAY
- Australians will receive the first round of the $1,500 JobKeeper payments
- More than 73,000 businesses and 4.7million workers will benefit from scheme
- Eligible businesses will receive $1,500 every fortnight for each eligible worker
- The package equates to about 70 per cent of the national median wage
- Business owners are legally obligated to give the money to their employees
Millions of struggling Australians will start receiving the first round of the $1,500 JobKeeper payments from today.
More than 73,000 businesses and 4.7million employees will benefit from the Federal Government’s wage subsidy scheme designed to keep employees on the books during the COVID-19 economic downturn.
Eligible businesses will receive $1,500 every fortnight for each eligible employee – which equates to about 70 per cent of the national median wage.
Business owners are legally obligated to give the money to their workers.
All full-time and part-time employees, and with casual workers who have been in the job for a year, are eligible for the scheme.
More than 73,000 businesses and 4.7million employees will benefit from the Federal Government’s wage subsidy scheme which was rolled out on Wednesday
Fewer businesses than expected have signed onto the wage subsidy scheme, but Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has ruled out extending the program to more ineligible workers
All full-time and part-time employees, and with casual workers who have been in the job for a year, are eligible for the JobKeeper scheme
Sole traders and New Zealanders on 444 working visas are also entitled to the highly anticipated package.
The $130billion wage subsidy scheme was introduced to enable businesses to keep their workers employed.
Fewer businesses than expected have signed onto the wage subsidy scheme, but the treasurer has ruled out extending the program to more ineligible workers.
‘There will be some who actually say, it’s too generous. It’s too large,’ Josh Frydenberg told ABC radio.
‘I believe that Australia has a fair and decent welfare safety net,’ he said.
The roll out comes as it’s revealed Australian workers at foreign-owned companies will miss out on the Jobkeeper allowance after a last minute change to eligibility requirements.
The government changed the definition of ‘sovereign entity’ in the JobKeeper rules on May 1 to exclude companies owned 100 per cent by foreign governments.
Australia is home to 10,000 businesses that are at least 50 per cent foreign-owned, but very few are overseas, state-owned firms.
Dnata, which supplies frozen meals to businesses like Qantas, received the news they were no longer eligible for the $1,500 fortnightly payment in an email from management on Monday.
The company, which has 5,500 workers across Australia, falls into this category as it is owned by the government of Dubai.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison stressed the importance of coronavirus-safe workplaces as the nation looks to repair economic damage.
Shutdown measures are estimated to cost $4 billion a week nationally.
‘We now need to get one million Australians back to work. That is the curve we need to address,’ Mr Morrison said on Tuesday.
Some economic and social restrictions are set to be eased on Friday after the next meeting of federal and state leaders.