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While CCIWA welcomes the WA Government’s announcement of a business compensation grant scheme, which includes key design elements from our recommended approach, the survey results clarify a strong case for the proposed relief to go further than the $2,000 cap flagged by the Premier.

The survey recorded 351 responses in just over 24 hours, representing all sectors of the economy. It shows the average expected impact on a business across the seven days is $25,200. Only a quarter of these losses are expected to be recovered as restrictions ease. However, the extent to which businesses expect to claw back the lost revenue is much lower in the food (16% of losses), retail (10%), events (10%) and education (1%) sectors.

For small businesses, the average impact of the lockdown and subsequent restrictions is $8,060.

This direct response from across the business community suggests the total costs borne by WA businesses across just the seven days amount to around $170 million. This is close to the $200 million estimate of total costs provided by CCIWA at the beginning of the lockdown.

Results show that reduced sales and turnover have hit businesses hard, particularly in the events (78% of businesses suffering losses), food (84%), and retail (83%) sectors.

Details of CCIWA’s proposed compensation scheme

• Businesses would be required to retain evidence of direct financial impacts for two years, and provide this to Government on request. Businesses would be open to audit for two years following payment. If an audited business could not provide the required evidence, they would be required to repay the grant.
• The scheme would be open to businesses from any sector of the economy, with a payroll less than $4 million. A $4 million payroll was the threshold used for the $17,500 one-off payment last year.