Program Overview

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

These grants are available to small businesses in the local council areas of Alpine, East Gippsland, Indigo, Mansfield, Towong, Wellington and the Rural City of 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 jointly funded by the Commonwealth and Victorian State Government under the Disaster Recovery Arrangements.

Applications are open until 31 January 2021 and can be made via the Apply now button on this page.

Bushfire Recovery Financial Support Factsheet (PDF 112.37 KB) PDF icon

Value

The grant amount is $10,000.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the grant, the applicant 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 a defined disaster area when affected by the eligible disaster
  • have suffered a decline in revenue of 40% or more in a relevant three month period (compared to a relevant three month period in the
  • previous year) as a result of the eligible disaster in the defined disaster area.

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
  • improvements to make the business more resilient to future disasters.

Applications for this program closed on 31 January 2020.