Clifford Chance

Australian merger and competition policy reform proposals: Building a bridge out of the Coronavirus

19 May 2020

In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the Australian Government has implemented unprecedented business support programs, such as the AUD130 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme, to seek to support businesses and employees during the "hibernation" occurring as a consequence of Government imposed business and social distancing restrictions. Despite the JobKeeper program and the provision of other Government support, an Australian independent public policy think tank, the Grattan Institute, is forecasting that the unemployment level in Australia may possibly reach between 14% and 26%. An unemployment rate at the higher end of this spectrum would be similar to levels last seen during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

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