RDASI Newsletter - August 2021
CEO Report
It saddens me to write this month, given the lockdowns and restrictions our region is living under which are causing catastrophic effects for our economies and communities. With non-essential services shut down across the State, our producers, tourism, hospitality, retail, transport and associated service providers are all doing it really tough.
As a former small business owner, I know all too well the responsibility you feel to your team members, your landlord and your suppliers. Cash-flow is a never-ending challenge when you’re open, let alone when you’re closed and making nothing. Just because you don’t have customers, doesn’t mean the ongoing costs of a small business disappears.
Please be sure to apply for covid relief payments for your business through Service NSW. We know we’re not all in this together. There’s a huge disparity between the lived experiences of those making the decisions and those needing to live with them. We hear you!
RDASI is here to help and support you. With direct communication to the Federal Government, we can share your concerns and issues straight to our Minister. If you have something you would like to bring to Asst Minister Nola Marino’s attention, please email me at admin@rdasi.org.au.
We are also hearing that the shadow pandemic of mental health is at critical levels. I’ve been a first-hand witness to the issues my teenage daughter and her friends have been going through. While all of us are hoping and praying that the NSW regional lockdowns will be lifted as promised on September 10th, this is yet to be confirmed. This instability can cause many of us to feel higher levels of anxiety and hopelessness.
If you’re feeling isolated and need to talk to someone you can reach out to Lifeline, the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program or Rural and Remote Mental Health. Please stay strong and if we can help direct you through to appropriate assistance and support, get in contact on the email above.
RDASI Launches Grant Guru
RDA Southern Inland is excited to announce the launch of a new online grant finding resource in conjunction with seven Local Government Area Councils: Goulburn Mulwaree, Hilltops, Snowy Monaro, Upper Lachlan, Wingecarribee and Yass Valley.
Finding and applying for grant funding can be a time consuming, frustrating and complicated ordeal for many people. The Grant Funding Finder portal is designed to take the stress out of the process and empower local businesses, community groups, sporting clubs, local governments and not-for-profit organisations to easily find grant funding opportunities – all in one free-to-use place.
This one-stop-shop is Australia’s most accessible and comprehensive online grants portal, listing 98 percent of available grants and filtering them relevant to the needs of the searcher. This means less time spent searching for grants and more time to prepare to win them.
The online portal also features a number of tips and videos that will help grant applicants become better prepared to successfully apply for funding. To find out more visit the RDASI Grant Funding Finder portal directly at www.rdasi.grantguru.com.au
New Support for Eligible Tenants and Landlords Impacted by COVID-19
The NSW Government will re-introduce the National Cabinet's Mandatory Code of Conduct for Commercial Leasing to mandate rent relief for eligible tenants impacted by COVID-19. A new $40 million Hardship Fund will also be established to provide a monthly grant of up to $3,000 for small commercial or retail landlords who provide rental waivers of at least the value of the grant and any land tax relief they are eligible for.
The Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19) Regulation 2021 will be extended until 13 January 2022 and will require landlords to renegotiate rent having regard to National Cabinet’s Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct requires landlords to provide rent relief in proportion with their tenant’s decline in turnover. Of the rent relief provided, at least 50 per cent must be in the form a waiver, and the balance a deferral.
The Regulation applies to commercial and retail tenants with a turnover of up to $50 million who qualify for the COVID-19 Microbusiness grant, COVID-19 Business Grant or JobSaver Payment. It will prohibit a landlord from evicting or locking out a tenant for certain breaches of the lease unless they have first renegotiated rent and attempted mediation.
Eligible commercial landowners are able to apply for relief on up to 100 per cent of their land tax liability for 2021. To be eligible, the landowner must have reduced rent for the affected tenant by at least the amount being claimed for any period between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2021.
Read more:
Concessions of up to 25% in 2021-22 payroll tax are available to help reduce overheads for eligible businesses. Visit Revenue NSW for eligibility information.
NBN Announcement: Reduced Costs for Business Fibre
NBN has made significant changes to business fibre availability for regional areas, significantly reducing wholesale costs and increasing the affordability of business fibre (Enterprise Ethernet) across the country.
Existing Business Fibre Zones
In September 2020 NBN announced 240 Business Fibre Zones across Australia to help level the playing field for businesses of all sizes, and in more locations. Businesses within the Business Fibre Zones were given access to NBN’s highest speed business fibre; Enterprise Ethernet, offering symmetrical speeds of up to 1Gbps with a $0 up front build cost and our lowest wholesale CBD Zone pricing (when the business signs up for a 3 year plan with their telecommunications provider). NBN has further reduced the wholesale cost of Enterprise Ethernet in these locations. Businesses located in any of the existing 240 NBN Business Fibre Zones will benefit from wholesale pricing discounts of up to 37% to CBD Zone pricing, making Enterprise Ethernet even more affordable for regional businesses.
Business located outside of a Business Fibre Zone
For businesses outside of the Business Fibre Zones, Enterprise Ethernet is now available to 90% of businesses within NBN’s fixed line footprint at a $0 build cost (businesses currently on a Fibre to the Node, Fibre to the Curb or a Fibre to the Premises connection), providing regional areas with access to high speed business grade broadband. Businesses in the fixed line footprint will be moved to Zone 1 pricing, equating to a 58% decrease in wholesale cost with the removal of Zone 2 and Zone 3 pricing levels.
New Business Fibre Zones
NBN has announced 44 additional Business Fibre Zones across the country, with 6 of these in Regional NSW. This includes Lithgow, Nelson Bay, Singleton, Cessnock, Casino and Wauchope. They will be able to take advantage of all of the abovementioned benefits, and businesses that were previously located in Zone 3 which have now been incorporated into a new NBN Business Fibre Zone, will be able to take advantage of wholesale pricing discounts of up to 68%.
To check your eligibility for Enterprise Ethernet, visit www.nbnco.com.au/business and enter your business address. You will then need to get in touch with your chosen telecommunications provider to discuss next steps.
NBN Upgrade Program for Homes and Businesses
NBN Co has announced the latest suburbs and towns where an additional 300,000 homes and businesses currently served by Fibre to the Node (FTTN) will become eligible for Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) upgrades by ordering selected higher speed retail plans.
The program allows NBN Co to build a fibre lead to eligible premises, which will enable them to access wholesale high speed tiers - nbn™ Home Fast, nbn™ Home Superfast or nbn™ Home Ultrafast service via their chosen internet retailer.
Access to high-speed tiers will enable households to do more of what they love, more efficiently. Specifically, high-speed tiers are designed for customers who have five or more people online at the same time; customers who participate in gaming activity; or customers who concurrently stream 4K and 8K video.
The announcement reaffirms the importance of NBN in supporting businesses, boosting the competitiveness of regional areas, strengthening network performance, and enhancing customer experience.
More information on this announcement can be found at www.nbnco.com.au
TAFE NSW Fee Free Courses*
Did you know that TAFE NSW has a wide range of courses and programs to support you, your staff and your business.
If you are currently in lockdown and want to upskill, you can with a fee-free* online short course, but places are limited. Courses are a mix of self-paced online or teacher-led virtual classrooms, which can pathway into a variety of full TAFE NSW qualifications.
Australian Agriculture Worker Visa Arrangements
On 23 August 2021, the Government announced the Australian Agriculture Worker Visa program to address workforce shortages in the agriculture sector. This visa is being designed for primary industry sectors including horticulture, meat processing, dairy, wool, grains, fisheries and forestry and will build on the successful Pacific labour programs that have proved invaluable to the agriculture sector.
The Pacific Labour Mobility programs will remain the priority source of temporary migrant works for Australia's agriculture sector, with the Australian Agriculture Worker visa addressing any labour gaps that cannot be filled by Australian and Pacific Labour.
The Government intends that the framework for the Australian Agriculture visa will be in place by the end of September 2021 and will be operated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The Government will soon make further announcements on program details including the application process for employers and eligibility requirements, following formal consultation with the industry. Full conditions for the Agriculture Worker program will be developed and implements over the next three years as the visa is operationalised.
Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR)
The Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR) is a national charity specifically focused on supporting the social and economic strength of remote, rural and regional communities. They have granted more than $115 million to more than 10,000 community projects across the country.
They have launched a research study called Heartbeat of Rural Australia to put some numbers around the critical role of community-based organisations in sustaining the vitality of remote, rural and regional Australia.
The findings will be shared widely, including with the groups that participate, to help them better advocate for the support they need to sustain and grow their activities. FRRR will also use the results to inform governments, philanthropy, and business about the specific needs of community organisations outside metropolitan areas, and to inform their practice.
Please complete this survey
The more organisations that participate, the more valid the data will be, and the more influence it will have. If yours is a grassroots organisation, we encourage you to complete the survey yourself (https://www.asr2.com/surveymatters/n/JmWcjMN).
FRRR would also be grateful if you could share the survey across your rural, regional and remote community networks. To support you in doing so, they have developed a communications pack. It includes social posts, posters and of course links to the survey, which is now open. It closes 30 September. You can find out more about the study on their website.
Public Inquiry into Wingecaribee Shire Council MEDIA RELEASE
The NSW Government has announced a public inquiry to investigate the serious issues plaguing Wingecarribee Shire Council and help restore community confidence in the Council.
Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock said it followed a recommendation from the Wingecarribee Shire Council interim administrator Viv May to hold a public inquiry which will provide an independent, open and transparent process to help improve its performance.
Mrs Hancock has also suspended the councillors, reappointed the interim administrator and deferred the 4 December council election until the public inquiry is completed.
“Wingecarribee Shire Council’s performance is being seriously hampered by a range of financial, legal, cultural, structural, reputational and governance issues which are of great concern to the local community,” Mrs Hancock said.
“A public inquiry will help get to the bottom of the issues which have significantly impacted on the Council’s performance and resulted in suspension of councillors and appointment of an interim administrator.
“Any member of the public with concerns about Wingecarribee Shire Council can now raise them directly with the Commissioner of the public inquiry.
“It is vital that the good work of the interim administrator to address these serious issues is allowed to continue without inference from councillors and that’s why it is in the public interest that they be suspended during the public inquiry.”
The Minister has appointed barrister Ross Glover as Commissioner to conduct the public inquiry. Mr Glover has extensive legal experience and previously performed the role of Counsel Assisting the public inquiry into Blue Mountains City Council.
At the conclusion of the public inquiry, the Commissioner will present a report to the Minister with recommendations, which can include issuing further performance improvement orders or dismissing the council and appointing an administrator. Mrs Hancock said it is crucial the public inquiry be concluded and findings released prior to locals determining the future of their council at an election.
“The public inquiry terms of reference focus on the relationship between councillors and council staff, roles and responsibilities in relation to staffing, planning, development and regulatory functions, as well as compliance by council with its statutory obligations including work, health and safety laws,” Mrs Hancock said.
“The NSW Government is determined to ensure the local community has a Wingecarribee Shire Council that is serving its best interests.”
The public inquiry terms of reference can be found on the Office of Local Government website.
Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants
The $280 million Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants program will help communities address remaining priorities for recovery and resilience after the 2019-20 bushfires. The grants are delivered by the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, through the Business Grants Hub. This grants program builds on support already provided through a range of bushfire recovery programs and covers every Local Government Area that was disaster declared as a result of the 2019-20 bushfires.
Community organisations, businesses and local councils can apply. Applications will open for submission from 22 July 2021 and close on 6 October 2021. Community organisations, business and local councils can apply and successful projects will be announced by the end of 2021. You can apply for a grant of between $20,000 and $10 million.
Visit the Business Grants Hub now to read the guidelines, criteria and eligibility and to preview application form in advance. You can also book in for a workshop (in person or online) to get help with the application process at www.recovery.gov.au/black-summer-grants or call the Business Grants Hub Hotline on 13 28 46.
Festivals Australia - Round 13 Now Open for Applications
The Office of the Arts are pleased to announce that Round 13 of the Festivals Australia funding program is now open for applications for projects commencing from 1 February 2022. Regional artists, arts workers, and organisations can apply for arts and cultural projects that encourage community participation and audience engagement from people living in regional and remote communities in a festival or community celebration.
An additional $2.4 million, announced as part of the Regional Arts Tourism package, is available in this funding round. Also new in this round is that up to three discrete projects can be funded per organisation, per festival. Separate applications for each project must be submitted and each one will be assessed independently. The funding round will close on Wednesday 29 September 2021 at 23.59 (Midnight) AEST (Canberra local time). More information can be found by visiting Festivals Australia | Office for the Arts.
Guidelines are available on Grants Connect www.grants.gov.au If you have any questions about the program, please direct them to festivals@arts.gov.au.
Go Local First Campaign
The Go Local First campaign, funded by the Federal Government, is offering small businesses practical support to encourage consumers to buy in their local area and support local businesses and jobs as the economy emerges from COVID-19.
Go Local First offers businesses free marketing material and other collateral that can be customised, including:
advice on setting up an effective local campaign
social media tiles, draft Facebook and Twitter posts, and items for newsletters that can be adapted to fit local conditions
ideas for local events to promote local small businesses
access to well-designed and researched stickers, posters, and other material.
Click here for further information, and for access to free marketing material.
