The Victorian and Commonwealth Governments have announced Small Business Bushfire Support Grants of $10,000 to support small businesses (including primary producers) who have experienced a significant loss of income due to the Victorian bushfires that commenced 21 November 2019.

To be eligible for the grant, you must:  

• be a small business owner 
• hold an Australian Business Number (ABN) and have held that ABN at the time of the eligible disaster
• have been engaged in carrying on the small business in the defined disaster area when you were affected by the eligible disaster
• have suffered a decline in revenue of 40% or more in a 3-month period, compared to the same period in the previous year, as a result of the Victorian 19/20 summer bushfires and not due to the impact of COVID-19
• be located in one of the following LGAs:   

              - Alpine

              - Alpine Resorts (including Falls Creek, Mount Hotham, Mount Buller               and Mount Stirling)

              - East Gippsland

              - Towong 

              - Wellington

              - Indigo

              - Mansfield

              - Wangaratta

Grant assistance is also available to small businesses who work within the eligible disaster areas on a regular basis, provided they can demonstrate significant impact.

The Victorian Small Business Bushfire Support Grant is funded by the State and Commonwealth Government.

These grants are provided to support eligible small businesses to recover from the bushfires and rebuild resilient businesses, for example;

• meeting business costs, including utilities, salaries and rent;
• seeking financial advice to support the recovery of the business;
• developing the business through marketing and communications activities or
• improvements to make the business more resilient to future disasters.

Eligibility criteria are contained in the attached Guidelines.

Please read the Guidelines before completing the Application Form.

How to apply

or complete an application form and email, post or fax to Rural Finance, together with supporting documentation, by 31 January 2021 via:

Post: Rural Finance, PO Box 1313, Bendigo Central 3552

Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Fax: 5441 8901

For further information please contact Rural Finance on 1800 260 425.