JobKeeper:

We know that some of our members have either not applied for JobKeeper, or have struggled to demonstrate the required loss of revenue, due to their irregular income. The ATO has released more information for businesses with lumpy income.  

Recognising that some businesses (including sole traders) have irregular income, the ATO acknowledges it may not be appropriate for an entity to compare their current monthly GST turnover with the same period a year ago. That’s why the ATO has set an alternative test, which uses your average monthly GST turnover over the 12 months immediately before the applicable turnover test period. Read more here.

While we acknowledge that averaging irregular income is helpful, our concern remains that the extent of the impact of Covid-19 won't be realised for many of our members until later this year and early next year as the result of the time-lag in royalty payments. By the time authors are feeling the drop in income, the JobKeeper scheme will be over.

We have communicated this concern to government and will keep you updated with any further information. In the interim, please don’t forget to fill in our survey on government payment schemes so we can advocate for the best support for you.

Increase in digital lending:

ALIA has observed a dramatic increase in the use of electronic resources during the Covid-19 outbreak. For example, the City of Parramatta Library on 22 April reports, "3115 new registered library members since 23 March, 11,962 digital loans (ebooks, eaudiobooks, emagazines) – including double the monthly average on the library’s main ebook site ePlatform. Approximately 2,500 new ebooks and eaudiobook titles have been added to the collection, with special collections of the Premier’s Reading Challenge ebooks added for children.” And Libraries Tasmania says, "There has been a 28 per cent increase in use of our ebook and eaudio services for the month of March (compared with March 2019), with a 46 per cent increase in the number of individuals borrowing an ebook. Junior ebook issues have increased by 82 per cent as a proportion of the collections used, with junior audio books proving popular.”

This is consistent with the surge in ebook library loans in the UK. The Bookseller reports that more than three times as many e-books were being borrowed across libraries in England in the first three weeks of lockdown than before they shut their doors. It is unsurprising that ebook borrowing will scale up while physical borrowing is limited.

The ASA believes that the increased investment in digital resources and new borrowing patterns may have a long term effect on the way patrons interact with libraries, and that therefore, the case for digital lending rights has never been more compelling. 

On 20 April 2020, we wrote to Minister Fletcher requesting that expansion of PLR / ELR to digital formats be made a priority now, and we will continue to ramp up our campaign efforts over the coming months.