News & Views

The JobKeeper Payment, which was originally due to run until 27 September 2020, will now continue to be available to eligible businesses (including the self-employed) until 28 March 2021.

The JobKeeper Payment rate: 

From 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021

• The fortnightly payment for full-time workers is decreasing from $1,500 to $1,200.
• $750 per fortnight for part-time workers.

From 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021

• The fortnightly payment for full-time workers is decreasing from $1,200 to $1,000.
• $650 per fortnight for part-time workers.

From 28 September 2020, businesses and not-for-profits seeking to claim the JobKeeper Payment will be required to demonstrate that they have suffered an ongoing significant decline in turnover using actual GST turnover (rather than projected GST turnover).

From 28 September 2020, businesses and not-for-profits will be required to reassess their eligibility with reference to their actual GST turnover in the June and September quarters 2020. They will need to demonstrate that they have met the relevant decline in turnover test in both of those quarters to be eligible for the JobKeeper Payment from 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021.

From 4 January 2021, businesses and not-for-profits will need to further reassess their turnover to be eligible for the JobKeeper Payment. They will need to demonstrate that they have met the relevant decline in the turnover test with reference to their actual GST turnover in each of the June, September and December quarters 2020 to remain eligible for the JobKeeper Payment from 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021.

​​​​​​​To demonstrate eligibility for JobKeeper Payments under the extension, businesses and not-for-profits will still need to demonstrate that they have experienced a decline in turnover of:

• 50 per cent for those with an aggregated turnover of more than $1 billion; 
• 30 per cent for those with an aggregated turnover of $1 billion or less;
• 15 per cent for Australian Charities and Not for profits Commission-registered charities (excluding schools and universities).

The eligibility rules for employees remain unchanged.

If a business or not-for-profit does not meet the additional turnover tests for the extension period, this does not affect their eligibility prior to 28 September 2020.

The JobKeeper Payment will continue to remain open to new recipients, provided they meet the existing eligibility requirements and the additional turnover tests during the extension period.

Further information about how the JobKeeper Payment works is available at ato.gov.au/general/JobKeeper-Payment.

If you have further enquiries relating to the JobKeeper Stimulus Package, please contact NECA Legal & IR on 1300 361 099 or email law.clerk@neca.asn.au