BATHURST Business Chamber president Catherine Fitzsimons says the JobKeeper program could be adjusted to better suit the needs of businesses being buffeted by COVID-19.
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Businesses and employees reliant on the government subsidies face a drop of up to $200 a fortnight as the JobKeeper program started to be wound back on Monday.
Payments for employees working less than 20 hours per week will be reduced from $750 to $650 per fortnight, while payments for employees working 20 hours per week or more will be reduced from $1200 per fortnight to $1000 a fortnight.
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"It's too soon to say how the cuts will affect businesses across the region, however, they do come at a very difficult time," Ms Fitzsimons said.
"These measures have been great in times of need, however, with lockdowns and restrictions continuing to appear across the state, perhaps the program should be a more targeted approach rather than painting everyone with the same brush.
"Hospitality, tourism, travel - these are just some of the industries that are still struggling and could use more assistance than others who have not been as affected by COVID.
"Tailoring a response and even getting state and local government to look at a more local approach would certainly be more advantageous to what is currently being offered."
Village Bakehouse retail operations manager, Taylor Stevenson, said that while both their Dubbo and Orange stores had come through the past nine months relatively well, more could be done.
"We have been lucky to still have some tourism across the region, but also the strong support of locals, and that helped us keep all our staff employed," he said.
"While lowering and eventually getting rid of JobKeeper payments isn't great, I can understand why the government has gone down this path, especially with the way the COVID numbers were previously decreasing.
"Those hardest hit should get the support needed and try to balance that with businesses that don't need as much help."
Orange Business Chamber president Jack Evans said the JobKeeper cuts might not affect Orange and the Central West as much as other regions.
"We have fared pretty well, all things considered," he said.
"A lot of businesses only qualified for the first round of JobKeeper funding and have bounced back well.
"JobKeeper certainly helped businesses through a tough time during lockdown and tight restrictions, but as those have eased, businesses have been able to not have to rely on the subsidies.
"There is some concern that funding might be cut or ended prematurely, but only time will tell; we don't have a crystal ball and will have to wait and see how current restrictions progress."
While JobKeeper is set to end on March 28, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said there were plenty of other financial incentives in place to help people.
"The Government has always maintained that JobKeeper was a temporary program designed to taper off as economic confidence and momentum builds," he said.
"In the Budget we saw a whole series of measures which are now starting to take effect.
"These important new measures continue to build on the Morrison Government's Economic Recovery Plan by creating jobs, rebuilding our economy and securing Australia's future."
The cuts in JobKeeper subsidies follow a decrease in additional JobSeeker payments, which were cut from $250 to $150 per fortnight, with JobSeeker also due to finish at the end of March.