Small Business Lockdown Assistance Grant Refused

We have just received notification that our application for assistance under the Small Business Lockdown Assistance Grant Program has been refused because the business was not within the eligible primary business activity.

When the lockdown was initially announced we made the decision to close our business over the period because “it was the right thing to do”.  We primarily service the recreational fishing industry and with the “stay at home” and “one hour of exercise within 5km of your home” directives, recreational fishing was not considered an option under lockdown conditions.  These are difficult times and everyone must “do their bit”, but we all heard the rhetoric from the politicians saying that small business that was genuinely impacted by the decision would be compensated for losses incurred to the tune of $3k.

When the applications for assistance opened, I must admit to being a little perplexed by the eligibility criteria (see https://www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/SBDC-Lockdown-Grants-Round-2.pdf).  No worries I thought, there is a category for sport and recreation and we would have no problem demonstrating 100% reduction in turnover over the period as we closed our business to the public.  It however seems that a bureaucrat has assessed us as not eligible because services to the recreational fishing industry does not meet the criteria for sport and physical recreation under the guidelines.

I get it, there has to be guidelines regarding eligibility so the grant program is targeted at the right places.  What I don’t understand is how a small business that essentially has to close over lockdown is not eligible because of some poorly worded guidelines around primary business activity.  It just doesn’t make sense to me that businesses that were allowed to remain open are eligible if they could demonstrate a 30% loss of turnover, where we endured 100% loss in turnover and have been refused.

Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy to be situated in WA where the State’s policies have provided for generally minimal disruptions to normal business conditions – no doubt eastern states businesses are doing it a lot harder than us.  However, the option to review the decision is open and I lodged an application for review within an hour of the refusal notification (the text is included below).  In the scheme of things, it is not a lot of money but it would compensate for the loss of revenue over the lockdown period which I thought was the intention of the grant program.

Anyway, I am not holding my breath for a favourable review decision and will accept the "umpire's decision".  Time to head off for my second jab today, and hopefully lockdowns will be a thing of the past soon.

Mick

 

This email seeks a review of decision in relation to the above application.  In support of the review, the below facts and circumstances are relevant.

 

  1. The business meets the eligibility criteria for Items 1 to 4 without question.

 

  1. The business meets the eligibility criteria for Item 5 for the following reasons:

 

·         The business operates solely in the sport and physical recreation sector;

·         The primary business activity is services to sport and physical recreation;

·         The sport and physical recreation activity that the business serves was a prohibited activity during the nominated lockdown period; and

·         The business was closed during the nominated lockdown period because of the customers prohibited sport and physical recreation activity.

 

  1. The review should examine the actual facts and circumstances that clearly demonstrate the main business activity is intrinsically linked to sport and physical recreation to the point that it cannot be distinguished from it.

 

  1. The business suffered 100% loss in revenue over the lockdown period as a direct result of the lockdown conditions issued by the Western Australian Government.

 

We believe the decision is unjust and unfair.  We genuinely suffered financial loss and hardship over the lockdown period as we did the responsible thing and closed our business.  It is very disappointing that an ill informed analysis has somehow determined that our main business activity is not sport and physical recreation based. 

We were of the opinion that the Small Business Lockdown Assistance Grants were designed to support small businesses such as ours that were most impacted by the lockdown conditions, and meet the eligibility criteria.  This does not seem to be the case in our circumstance, and hence the request for a review. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it - LH.

 


Posts: 4561

Date Joined: 01/02/10

 Goes both way then. By

Thu, 2021-08-26 09:17

 Goes both way then. By refusing the assistance to you it's let everyone know that recreational fishing is a good enough reason to ignore the lockdown. 

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Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?

rob90's picture

Posts: 1522

Date Joined: 06/02/13

 That really sucks, do the

Thu, 2021-08-26 09:28

 That really sucks, do the right thing and get shafted. Hope you get something out of them. Because unfortunately there are many businesses that didn't deserve but got it while the small guys copped it.

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 Hi my name is rob............. and I'm a........... fishaholic

davewillo's picture

Posts: 2223

Date Joined: 08/09/16

 That really sucks Mick. I

Thu, 2021-08-26 10:39

 That really sucks Mick. I hope someone has a case of common sense and the review is successful.

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 PGFC member and lure tragic

Posts: 308

Date Joined: 28/05/15

 i just did a bit of

Thu, 2021-08-26 14:50

 i just did a bit of research.

the program guideline states you must be one of the following ANZSIC industry categories

HOSPITALITY - RETAIL - TOURISM - SPORT AND RECREATION 

the guide has dot points below those headings as eligible activities and they arent conclusive and some of those activites arent actually specified specifically in the ANZSIC

 

florist, hairdresser, beauty, specialised food retailing and many more of the activities they list under the categories don't actually even exist in the ANZSIC list so it is misleading

 

how can you fit in to an industry activity that the guideline lists when it isnt actually listed in the ANZSIC as an industry activity

 

going on the industry categories as listed in the guideline (ignoring the list of acitivities as they are proven to not be accurately defined)

 

I am not 100% sure what your business is however you mention you service the recreational fishing sector so if i am assuming right you would fall under:

class G - Retail Trade of the ANZSIC

category 424 - Recreational goods retailing

code 4241 - Fish tackle retailing / fishing equipment

 

of interest Victoria specifically states 4241 code is eligible for their small business grants

Mick C's picture

Posts: 605

Date Joined: 26/12/13

Thanks Vic

Thu, 2021-08-26 15:57

I certainly appreciate the comments.

As an update, I received a reply this morning stating the following.

Thank you for your email. The industry criteria relates to the primary trading activity of the business, not the industries they service, so unfortunately the primary trading activities of your business do not fit in the sport and recreation categories. There are a very wide range but also very specific list of industries that were eligible under the grants program and our assessors placed your business in a retail category. Broadly, below is a snapshot from the program guidelines with regards to the eligible industries for retail: bakeries, florests, hairdressing and beauty services and specialist food retailing. 

The ATO has a really simple tool you can use to research the different categories and what business categories items fit under them. The ABS also has a search tool, which is more detailed but less user friendly. Both are below:

I responded to this email with one of my own (I can't help myself) with the contents reproduced below.  I did look up the ATO codes and the primary trading activities fall into a number of categores (as below).  It is certainly interesting that 4241 is an eligible category in Victoria.

Thank you for the prompt reply. 

With all due respect, I believe your guidelines are flawed as they do not take into account, or allow, specific circumstances to be considered.  It simply doesn’t make any sense that we, by the nature of our business serving the sport and recreation sector, had to close with 100% reduction in turnover during the lockdown period and then we are excluded by the program guidelines that are narrow at best.  Surely a relevant question for assessment is “did your business have to close during the lockdown period”?

In our circumstance could we be classified as “other services”, or is this category restricted to pet boarding and grooming, marriage celebrants, tattoo and piercing?  I have looked at the ATO site and our primary trading activities fall into multiple categories which is potentially an unusual, or “other”, case (05290, 11200, 41212, 41290, 42410)?

As per my submission below, the following facts have specific relevance in establishing that our small business was directly impacted by the lockdown decision and that special consideration may be warranted. 

•             The sport and physical recreation activity that the business serves was a prohibited activity during the nominated lockdown period; and

•             The business was closed during the nominated lockdown period because of the customers prohibited sport and physical recreation activity.

I believe the intent of the grants program was to assist small businesses that were genuinely negatively impacted by the government decision.  We are certainly in that category.

Your consideration of the above, and any advice, is certainly appreciated.

Thanks again Vic.

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Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it - LH.

 

Posts: 308

Date Joined: 28/05/15

 I would ask them to show you

Thu, 2021-08-26 16:03

 I would ask them to show you where the activities they list are specifically mentioned in the ANZSIC, the categories exist but 80% of those primary activities they list aren't even mentioned specifically in the ANZSIC which means they are openly interpreting the ANZSIC which also means they can interpret them to fit you in to an activity 

Mick C's picture

Posts: 605

Date Joined: 26/12/13

Appeal Upheld

Thu, 2021-10-07 14:43

Happy to report that we just received notification that our appeal against the refusal has been upheld. 

Thanks to Vic for the very helpful advice, that I'm sure held a lot of weight during the review.  

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Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it - LH.

 

Faulkner Family's picture

Posts: 17835

Date Joined: 11/03/08

 Great to hear. Certainly

Fri, 2021-10-08 05:59

 Great to hear. Certainly will help you guys 

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

Swompa's picture

Posts: 3757

Date Joined: 14/10/12

 Good to see!Follow the rules

Fri, 2021-10-08 06:22

 Good to see!

Follow the rules and you shouldnt be penalised. 

davewillo's picture

Posts: 2223

Date Joined: 08/09/16

 Good news Mick! Was

Fri, 2021-10-08 10:42

 Good news Mick! Was certainly worth pursuing.

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 PGFC member and lure tragic