6 May 2020
COVID-19 Timeline
What’s happened in the Australian banking sector during the coronavirus pandemic.
2020

February 14: coronavirus assistance offered

February 14: ABA COVID-19 assistance hub created

March 11: Government announces first stimulus package of $17.6B

March 20: small business relief package announced featuring 6 month deferrals

March 20: mortgage relief announced – 6 month deferrals available for homeowners

March 22: Government announces second stimulus package of $66B

March 25: COVID-19 FAQs published

March 30: business relief extended to landlords and renters

April 3: contactless payments to increase from $100 to $200

April 5: banks support JobKeeper – credit available to bridge gap till payments begin in May

April 6: credit scores secured – COVID-19 deferrals will not affect credit ratings

April 8: SME loan guarantee begin – 50% govt-guaranteed loans, no repayments for 6 months

April 24: dedicated JobKeeper business hotlines open

April 26: Bank CEOs support COVIDSafe app – will download app and encourage staff to do same

April 29: voluntary debit cards for passbook holders announced

April 29: COVID-19 anti-scam hub updated, fact sheets in 12 translations

May 8: 100,000 extra COVID-19 loan deferrals in a week – brings total to 643,000

May 16: 1 in 14 mortgages have now been deferred – 429,000 in total
2021

Mar 11: New expanded and extended SME loan scheme good for small business 80/20, 24 month deferrals, $250M turnover
Latest news
Media Releases
New paper released to combat Modern Slavery
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31 March 2022
The working paper focuses on the construction and agriculture sectors and seeks to provide a point of reference for banks to operationalise modern slavery risk identification and management.
Media Releases
NSW Small Business Month: Australian banks continue to support small businesses across NSW
Read more
25 March 2022
An average of $3.2 billion was lent to small business in the second half of 2021, up 24% from the $2.6 billion in the second half of 2020.
Media Releases
Inaugural banking conference delivers forward thinking
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11 March 2022
ore than 30 industry leaders addressed the audience throughout the day, deep-diving into the opportunities, digital disruptions, new customer trends and risks that face the banking industry.