THERE were more than 1100 applications in Bathurst for the Federal Government's JobKeeper at the height of the coronavirus restrictions, new figures show.
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Bathurst had fewer applications than similarly sized Central West cities Orange and Dubbo.
As calls to extend the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme continue, Treasury has released figures on how many applications have been processed by postcode.
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The figures show there were 7457 applications in the Central West, led by the Dubbo postcode with 1423.
Orange postcode was next highest with 1301 applications and the Bathurst postcode was third with 1141.
The data is for businesses and not-for-profits that have had JobKeeper payments for the April fortnights. This is the most recent data available.
Business NSW's Western NSW regional manager Vicki Seccombe said she was not surprised by the number of businesses that had applied for JobKeeper.
"Many business owners across the region were hit hard with the pandemic, and were already highly impacted by drought and/or bushfire prior to that," she said.
Ms Seccombe estimates that 30 to 40 per cent of all businesses in Western NSW have accessed the JobKeeper payments, including sole traders, farmers or people working for themselves.
"If you delve a bit further and you just look at the number of employing businesses who have accessed the payment, then we believe it's more likely to be 80 per cent to 90 per cent," she said.
Ms Seccombe said JobKeeper had been crucial for the business community and the government needed to think very carefully about how it wound back the initiative.
"Business NSW has been saying for some time that September is going to be the month where the true impacts of the pandemic hit home with JobKeeper set to end and a number of deferral measures the banks initiated at the start of the pandemic also due to expire," she said.
"Those industries that have been most impacted by COVID-19 will need targeted support post September.
"This includes industries such as accommodation and food services, retail, arts and recreation, education and training."