After the rush of measures being released, the last few days have been relatively quiet, which has been a welcome change for advisors who have been scrambling to both fully understand the new measures and communicate these to their clients.

Most new announcements have been aimed at a personal level with essential workers being guaranteed free child care services and the governments working with the gas and electricity companies to provide funds to allow them to provide flexibility for households which are struggling to pay their bills.

At this stage, the $1,500 wage subsidy is yet to be legislated. However there has been a recent announcement that the ATO will help determine the eligibility of businesses to this measure based on the 30% or 50% required reduction in turnover. In another welcome development, it appears the ATO will apply this criteria liberally which will assist newly formed businesses and businesses who hire employees through a service trust to be eligible for the measure. This confirms our belief that any potentially eligible businesses should register now.