The ATO on COVID-19 fraud warpath We always knew that a Government scheme swiftly distributing cash during a crisis was going to come with equally swift compliance and review measures, particularly when eligibility was self-assessed. Two major Australian Taxation Office (ATO) initiatives are searching out fraud and schemes designed to take advantage of the Government’s [...]

JobKeeper and termination payments (breakout box) An employment termination payments (ETP) is a lump sum payment made to an employee when their job is terminated. ETP’s are generally made up of unused sick leave or unused rostered days off, payment in lieu of leave, genuine redundancy payments, etc.   For some employers, JobKeeper will not [...]

Funding for the arts: what’s available and how can you get it Will the Prime Minister’s targeted $250 million package of funding to support cultural and creative projects and initiatives save the industry?   The arts funding is aimed at kick starting the sector with funding preferencing commercial initiatives that generate jobs and are expected [...]

Increased flexibility for Parental Leave Pay for self-employed From 1 July 2020, parents accessing the Government’s parental leave pay (PPL) scheme will have greater flexibility and options.   Targeting the self-employed and small business owners, the changes introduce a new flexible paid parental leave pay period of 30 days.   Previously, new parents could apply [...]

Minimum wage increases by 1.75% An increase to the minimum wage of 1.75% will start rolling out for the first full pay period from 1 July 2020.   The increase applies to minimum rates in awards in 3 stages: Group 1 Awards - from 1 July 2020 Frontline Heath Care & Social Assistance Workers Teachers [...]