22 Feb 2021

A $143 million support package has been announced to help small businesses and sole traders affected by the recent 5-day circuit-breaker restrictions.

The Circuit Breaker Support Package will offer:

  • $2000 grants for eligible employing and non-employing businesses in the hospitality, food wholesaling, tourism, events and selected retail industries
  • a $3000 one-off grant paid automatically to previous recipients of the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund
  • payments for accommodation providers in Melbourne and regional Victoria that suffered cancellations due to the circuit-breaker.

More than 50,000 Victorian small businesses are expected to benefit from the payments, including restaurants, florists, confectioners, hairdressers, accommodation providers, musicians and performers.

The $200 travel voucher scheme is also being expanded and renamed the Regional Travel Voucher Scheme and Melbourne Travel Voucher Scheme. The expansion includes 40,000 vouchers to be made available for travel in metro Melbourne and an additional 10,000 vouchers for travel in regional Victoria.

Read the press release on the Premier's website.