Dan Tehan signals willingness to “support as necessary” in wake of VIC lockdown

Federal Minister for Education Dan Tehan has signaled that the Federal Government is willing to step in and support sectors that have been impacted adversely by the step up to Stage 4 restrictions imposed on the 31 local government areas across Metropolitan Melbourne. 

In an interview with Kieran Gilbert from Sky News Minister, Mr Tehan, in response to a question about ongoing financial support for business in Victoria, said “we will continue to work with the Victorian State Government, we’ll continue to work with industry and the business sector to make sure that they get the support that they need. And as we watch, monitor and understand the impact of this second Victorian wave, we’ll obviously provide the support as necessary.”

Minister Tehan specifically referenced the Additional Viability Support Payment package for eligible Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) operators impacted by school closures in Victoria that was announced on 30 July 2020 as an example of the type of steps the Government is prepared to take to support impacted sectors. 

The new OSHC package, which was backdated to 20 July 2020, equates to an additional 15 per cent of reference period revenue that would flow to operators in addition to the 25 per cent Transition Payment and support 880 providers across the affected areas. 

When pressed on the likelihood that the JobKeeper mechanism would be used as a means to provide additional support Minister Tehan reiterated the Government’s willingness to step in, noting “we’ll continue to look and monitor the situation, and where there are instances where we think there is support needed for various sectors, like we did with the childcare sector during the week – an additional $6 million for those outside school hour care providers – because we understand that there’s a real impact being felt by those particular providers in the childcare sector.”

To read the interview please click here.