Treasurer Josh Frydenberg ruled out increasing the JobKeeper payment though the program is being expanded following developments in Victoria.
Eligibility criteria for the program will also be eased to cushion virus-hit Victoria following its first week of Stage Four lockdown expected to run until the middle of September.
Businesses will get easier access to the wage subsidies program with the injection of an additional $15.6 billion, taking total funding to just over $100 billion.
New rules mean that businesses will need to show a significant drop in their turnover for the September quarter compared to the same period last year.
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Mr Frydenberg said the $1500 payment is due to be cut to $1200 per fortnight from September which Mr Frydenberg said “remains 80 per cent of the minimum wage”. It will then fall to $1000 until March when 66 per cent of recipients to this payment will be Victorian instead of the 44 per cent initially forecast.
“We’ll have four million Australian workers on JobKeeper through the September quarter, in Victoria that number will be 1.5 million – that’s nearly half the private sector workforce in Victoria and we will continue to provide very significant support for those who need it.”