AFTA UPDATE

from the Australian Federation of Travel Agents

HAPPILY, our ongoing negotiations with Austrade to refine the implementation of the Federal Govt’s COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program have paid off. As a result, businesses deemed ineligible as a result of reported total turnover on the G1 line of their BAS exceeding the upper cut-off of $20m, but where their GST turnover complies, should now be eligible. Importantly, Austrade have confirmed that all eligible claims will be considered regardless of the program close date of 13 Mar. Interest should be registered at tourism@austrade.gov.au. This has been a process that has taken some time to get right but we are very grateful that the ongoing detailed representations have had the desired impact. Please know that we continue to make detailed representations to Austrade on behalf of those smaller agents who fall under the minimum $50,000 threshold due to reporting anomalies.

We have been very clear in our calls for urgent realignment at the lower level in line with our initial recommended approach and supported by the member feedback which we have shared with Austrade and Government. This approach has also included our ask that surplus funds should be shared across smaller agents to ensure an equitable approach.

We know both directly from political and departmental stakeholders that they understand the urgently pressing need for action and for that action to be sizeable if our sector is to be saved.

We continue to stress that now is crunch time and that office doors are already being closed. Already this week, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has publicly acknowledged this need. We continue to work with and alongside a range of industry bodies in addition to our direct lobbying and that of our members to push our case for this ongoing tailored support. It’s anticipated an announcement will be made on Thu and we are hopeful of a positive outcome. We also continue to lobby at a State and Territory level. AFTA just like so many others has had to put in place measures necessary to safeguard the organisation through the multiple challenges created by COVID. This means being an extremely lean organisation. There will be some restructuring changes to the AFTA team and we will share more details as and when it is appropriate to do so. We know it’s hard to keep hoping but we are hopeful that these dark times are just before the dawn so let’s keep the fight going and keep making the difference we need.