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Vic business welcomes review of Business Support Fund applications

27 April 2021

The Victorian Chamber welcomes the State Government’s announcement that it will reassess 12,000 applications for the first round of the Business Support Fund in response to a Victorian Ombudsman investigation.

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The Ombudsman received 984 complaints from 581 businesses about the Business Support Fund, mainly related to rejections for the $10,000 grant that were put down to administrative and technical issues such as incorrect links, incomplete information and typos. The Ombudsman also found the Department’s call centre was initially understaffed and did not have access to the Department’s case management system.

The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, which ran the grant process, has undertaken to contact the relevant applicants via email and/or SMS from today with most reassessments to be completed by 30 June 2021.

The Business Support Fund has provided $2.6 billion to 134,000 businesses during three rounds. The Victorian Ombudsman’s report related to the first round which took place between 30 March and 1 June 2020.

The Victorian Chamber advocated on behalf of our members for business support as the COVID-19 wrecking ball hit our state. The State Government acted quickly to establish the Business Support Fund and should be commended for that, but the Victorian Ombudsman’s report clearly shows that there were flaws in the system which meant that up to 12,000 businesses missed out on the $10,000 grants when they may have been eligible.

To be attributed to Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chief Executive Paul Guerra:

“The Victorian Chamber advocated strongly for the Business Support Fund and, while the Government acted quickly to offer assistance, we are disappointed that flaws in the system have caused further pain for businesses.

“It’s been a stressful and challenging 13 months for Victorian businesses and the situation was no doubt exacerbated for those who unfairly had their Business Support Fund applications rejected. Like the Ombudsman, we also received complaints about the process and raised these issues with the Government at the time.

“The Victorian Chamber is pleased that the State Government will accept the recommendations in the Ombudsman’s report and will be in touch with 12,000 businesses from today to advise that their applications will be reviewed.”

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