Insights from the first six months of JobKeeper

This report presents Treasury analysis on the first six months of the JobKeeper Payment (to 27 September 2020), reflecting on the design and initial impacts of JobKeeper as a key element of the Government’s macroeconomic response to COVID-19.

The report draws on ongoing analysis undertaken by Treasury throughout 2020 and 2021 on JobKeeper and macroeconomic developments.

The report is divided into five sections:

• Section 1 outlines the development of JobKeeper, including the economic and health context in which JobKeeper was developed, JobKeeper design features, and changes made to the policy over time.
• Section 2 provides updated summary program data on JobKeeper recipients.
• Section 3 provides analysis on the economic effect of JobKeeper.
• Section 4 discusses analysis on JobKeeper and business-level performance.
• Section 5 outlines future evaluation and audit activities planned for JobKeeper.