Five daily discount vouchers will be available to Canberrans in a bid to encourage local spending in the lead-up to Christmas.
In a trial, the ACT Government’s ‘ChooseCBR’ initiative will offer anyone over 18 up to $40 worth of digital discount vouchers per day, which will be available to redeem from Wednesday 9 December.
Vouchers will be worth $2.50, $5, $10 and $20 and will require a minimum spend to be valid. They cannot be used for alcohol, tobacco or gaming products.
As well, the five vouchers will need to be used at different businesses.
The ACT Government has allocated $500,000 for the scheme, which will finish up on 21 December or until the funds have been exhausted.
Canberra Business Chamber CEO Graham Catt said the vouchers are a welcome initiative for the local business community, and particularly for smaller businesses that have felt the pinch during the pandemic, like hospitality, tourism and accommodation providers.
He said consumers have changed the way they are spending since March this year, with shopping local top of mind for a lot of people already.
“When we spend on a small local business, that money is also being spent elsewhere.”
ACT businesses in the retail, tourism, accommodation, arts and recreation, personal service and hospitality sectors can sign up to participate, provided they have a physical shopfront in the ACT, have received JobKeeper payments and have a yearly turnover of less than $10 million.
ACT Business Minister Tara Cheyne said the initiative has been modelled on a similar program in Darwin and would help local businesses “start the road to recovery”.
“We’re encouraging Canberrans to get involved, particularly as we get close to the holiday season,” she said.
The ACT Government says it will evaluate the results of the trial before an expected full rollout of the initiative early next year.
Business and individuals can register from today via the ChooseCBR website.
