On 24 March 2020 the federal government introduced, and
parliament passed, the Coronavirus Economic Response Package
Omnibus Bill 2020. The bill received royal assent on 25 March 2020,
and came into force as the Coronavirus Economic Response
Package Omnibus Act 2020 ( 'the Act'). The Act
provides with respect to statutory demands that:
- The threshold at which a statutory demand can be issued is
increased from $2,000 to $20,0001
- The statutory period which a company has to respond to a
statutory demand after it is served is increased from 21 days to
six months.2
The date the Act received royal assent is important, as the Act
provides that the legislative changes come into effect only
'The day after this Act receives the Royal
Assent'.3 For example, if a company was served
with a statutory demand on or before 25 March 2020, the previous
threshold of $2,000 and response time of 21 days will apply.
