“The Australian printing industry breathed a sigh of relief with the announcement that JobKeeper would be extended to the end of March 21,” says print industry analyst Richard Rasmussen of Ascent Partners. A further 500,000 Victorians are expected to join the program in the September quarter.
“Rates have been reduced and in recent days the eligibility criteria has been relaxed,” Rasmussen says. “Victorian printers were also relieved that they would be able to trade on through the six-week stage 4 COVID 19 Lockdown in their state.”
Jason Kiekebosch, MD of Melbourne label printer EXELPrint told abc.com.au: "Essentially our whole workforce has accessed JobKeeper and that meant a huge amount psychologically, just in people understanding that their jobs are secure."
Parent company EXELNetwork, which also runs a training business, employs about 35 staff and Kiekebosch was able to access government support for all but one of his workers. "I think it'll increase business confidence, which will have a positive impact on our business," he said. "I would imagine that we would be OK without JobKeeper, but certainly a lot of our customers won't."
The new guidelines for the JobKeeper extension will begin on September 28. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced businesses would only need to show their GST turnover had fallen over one quarter, instead of multiple quarters, to be eligible. Workers qualify if they were employed on July 1, rather than March 1.
"We believe that about 530,000 extra Victorian employees will now join the JobKeeper program over the September quarter, that means 1.5 million Victorian employees will be using JobKeeper," he said.
The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry also welcomed the move. “The Stage 4 lockdown has placed enormous financial and emotional strain on Victorian employers and their employees, and this support has come at a crucial time in providing some certainty and clarity for the future," says VCCI chief executive Paul Guerra.
“Tighter JobKeeper rules for the second phase of the scheme were looming as a further setback to business confidence, so today’s announcement ensures valuable support can continue to be accessed by business at a time when the Victorian economy has all but been brought to a grinding halt.”
Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell says adjustments to the eligibility criteria will be a necessary lifeline, particularly to those small businesses in Victoria that were able to re-open when restrictions eased after the first wave, but are now impacted by tighter restrictions in response to the second wave.
“The changes also allow struggling small businesses to get JobKeeper payments for new staff who have been employed since 1 July. There’s no doubt the latest round of restrictions has been devastating for Victorian small businesses and the broader economy.
“In light of the restrictions imposed on small businesses in Melbourne and surrounds, the government should delay its plans to taper JobKeeper payments from the end of next month. The reality is that these small businesses won’t be back on their feet by 28 September, when payments will be reduced and commercial rent deferrals are scheduled to expire.”
The ACTU welcomed the expansion of JobKeeper but said until the scheme fully covers casuals and visa workers “it will not adequately protect our community from the virus, as these workers will be desperate for income."
ACTU Secretary Sally McManus said: “The outbreak in Victoria has shown us again that insecure workers are the most vulnerable during this crisis, and need to be supported so that they can protect themselves and the community. People on work visas have been excluded from JobSeeker and jobKeeper. They have nothing, so they are desperate for work. This makes it more likely they will be working, some while sick, in our essential services like meat processing and aged care. We need to expand JobKeeper to casuals and visa workers, and make federally funded paid pandemic leave available to all working people. If we do not treat all workers equally, some will be more desperate and take more risks. This will only create opportunities for the virus to spread.”
Rasmussen added that the printing Industry faces ongoing challenges with reduced sales of print across most sectors.
“During the “Regroup, Sell or Close” webinar we ran last week, attendees responded to our Poll question, “Compared to pre COVID 19 sales levels, what do you forecast your sales to be over the next five months, to end Dec. 20?” as follows:
20% said they would see sales increase, be flat or see an under 20% fall.
The remaining 80% said they would see sales falls of over 20%, with 75% in that group saying an average of 30% falls.
“This is a moving target, and the truth is we really don’t know what sales level we will experience, when and if the kick back will occur and what the new norm may be."
The Webinar, which provided a sector by sector market overview, outlined the state of play with grants and laws and discussed the various options of regrouping, selling and closing. The webinar was presented by Rasmussen, Wade Oldham of Wade Oldham Finance, and Andrew Barnden of Rodgers Reidy, a leading national insolvency and restructuring practice. Click here to view.”
