Native Forest Transition: Closure of Impacted Business Grants Program (Australia)

The Closure of Impacted Businesses program aims to assist businesses with a reliance on the commercial native timber industry that will close their operations.

Funding Information

• The Closure of Impacted Businesses program is a $1 million non-competitive grant program that aims to help any business reliant on native timber to exit the industry.
• The grant offers eligible businesses up to $50,000 in financial assistance to help with expenses associated with closing their business.

Eligible Activities

• An initial ‘health check’ assessment by an accredited financial and/or accounting specialist to review your financial data and provide advice on the business’ feasibility to continue.
• Accredited financial and accounting advice specific to activities required to close the business.
• Legal advice to assist with any issues specific to contracts, employee relations and/or property matters as a result of closing the business.
• Counselling services to assist owners with mental health and wellbeing support during the business closure process.
• Activities as part of business closure such as the sale/disposal of equipment/machinery, lease termination activities and other closure activities which will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
• Any business deregistration fees.

Ineligible Activities

• The following activities are ineligible:
  • Payments of company debts or any accrued payments owed to owners;
  • Staff redundancy and leave liability payments;
  • Payments of tax and statutory payments;
  • Purchase of dividends or other distributions of equity to owners;
  • Reimbursement for depreciation of assets;
  • Purchase of land, assets or inventory;
  • Salaries/employment of new or existing staff; and
  • Advertising and office upkeep.

Eligibility Criteria

• Must be a Western Australian business operating within the native forestry industry for at least 3 years prior to, and at the time of the announcement on 8 September 2021.
• Business must have a valid and active ABN or ACN and not have any pending litigations or insolvency processes underway.
• Business must be able to demonstrate a 50% or greater reliance on the native timber industry over at least one financial year from 2019/2020 to 2021/2022, with at least:
  • 50% of inputs used in manufacturing processes be from native timber; or
  • 50% of business revenue derived from the sale of goods or services from the native timber industry.
• Must be the only business held by the business owners/directors. Where business owners/directors hold additional ABN or ACN numbers, applications will be assessed on a case-by-case basis to ensure the majority of their income (i.e. 50%) is derived from the eligible business.
• Must be registered for GST with a minimum turnover of $75,000
• Must not have received funding through any other Native Forest Transition grant program.

Ineligibility Criteria

• The following organisations are ineligible for funding:
  • Local, State, or Federal Government Authorities/Agencies, Government Trading Enterprises (GTEs) and Individuals (without an ABN).
  • Trusts that are not incorporated and are unable to enter into a funding agreement with the State Government. (A trustee may apply on behalf of a trust where it meets the eligibility requirements set out above).
  • Businesses that have been successful in receiving funding from another Native Forest Transition grant; and
  • Businesses located outside of Western Australia.

For more information, visit JTSI.