A Horsham business owner expects retail in the city to change permanently following the coronaivrus pandemic and its associated impacts.
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Shana Miatke, owner of Horsham's Exquisit store, has registered her interest in a $130 billion federal government program to subsidise employees' wages and keep them in their jobs.
The JobKeeper program is expected to pass parliament on Wednesday. It would see the government provide $1,500 per fortnight per employee to employers for up to six months.
To be eligible, the employers need to prove their annual turnover has fallen or will likely fall by 30 per cent or more. The subsidy applies to all full-time, part-time and sole traders, and also to casual employees that have been part of the business for 12 months or more.
Ms Miatke said she employed six casual staff at Exquisit, four of whom have been there for more than a year. She said she planned to pass the $1500 fortnightly payment on to them in full, and that this would be close to what they would earn in an average fortnight.
"We have stood down our staff as of this week: Until we can get our online store up and running we have no work for them," she said.
"Our aim is to keep the majority of our staff employed if we are busy enough. For two of them this is their only source of income, and another two have lost their jobs at other retailers in the region.
"I've spoken to other business owners (in Horsham) and we all agree our staff are like family. It has really affected us in seeing how they were going to be affected, so after the initial shock we are now having videochats to workshop ideas like an online dining event together, just to keep that connection up."
Ms Miatke said the business was developing an online shopping portal to continue trading while social distancing measures continued.
"We didn't have a website until now just because we couldn't find the time and we had always focused on our face-to-face customer service," she said.
"I'm trying to develop the website with a web designer at the moment, so I'm probably doing an extra 30 hours of work a week to try and get it up and running. I think a lot of business owners (are doing the same).
"I think this (pandemic) will definitely change retail going forward. I am still big on the bricks and mortar, but I think online will definitely be something to support it going forward. We are looking at changing all our in-store software and database to link with our website too."
Ms Miatke said she felt disappointed for the two casual staff that had been there less than a year and were thus ineligible for payments, but "anything was better than nothing".
Member for Mallee Anne Webster said she didn't have exact figures regarding how many Mallee residents would be eligible for Job Keeper.
"The criteria around being a regular casual is in the Fair Work Act (2009)," she said. "To change that would delay the process of payments, so the government is taking that advice and is working with casuals that have been with an employer for 12 months or more.
"Ideally, I think it would be fantastic for any casual that has been employed for 12 months at however many businesses to be included. Casuals that haven't worked for more than 12 months can still access Job Seeker, which is now double the payment it was."
Dr Webster said the tax office had discretion to work with farmers that experienced poor seasons due to coronavirus in 2020 or drought the year before.
"We want to maintain a recovery focus, so employees still have employers and vice-versa at the end of this pandemic."
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Alexander Darling
Alexander has been a member of the Wimmera Mail-Times' editorial team since December 2018, covering politics, business and property among other rounds. He is a passionate St.Kilda and rock and roll fan, and has previously worked as a radio reporter in Port Macquarie and Gosford, NSW.
Alexander has been a member of the Wimmera Mail-Times' editorial team since December 2018, covering politics, business and property among other rounds. He is a passionate St.Kilda and rock and roll fan, and has previously worked as a radio reporter in Port Macquarie and Gosford, NSW.
