The Victorian Transport Association (VTA) has welcomed the Federal Government's $130 billion JobKeeper payment program which has been announced to help Australian businesses and those they employ to endure the economic impact of Covid-19.

Under the program, the Government will pay employers impacted by the coronavirus to keep paying workers they otherwise could no longer support $1,500 a fortnight for up to six months.

To be eligible for the payment, businesses' turnovers will need to have fallen by 30 per cent or more, with the payment available to full- and part-time workers, sole traders,, and casuals who have been with their employer for more than 12 months.

VTA CEO, Peter Anderson, congratulated the Government for listening to the concerns of businesses impacted by coronavirus, and said the package was an endorsement of the position put to it by the VTA, the Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation, the TWU and other employer and employee representative groups.

"With this package, the Government has rightly recognised that businesses need support to keep connected to their workers over the weeks and months ahead, and that subsidising their wages will put them in the best possible position to lead the economic recovery," he said.

"What we don’t want to see are companies being forced to reduce their workforce through no fault of their own and this package will give them the incentive to keep connected to their workforce.

"We congratulate the Government for listening to the VTA and other industry representative groups, and for putting a package together that will enable workers to pay their bills and give employers a shot of confidence they desperately need at this time."

Anderson said in addition to advocating for sound economic policy, the VTA was working closely with transport operators to correct the driver imbalance in the supply chain created by coronavirus through its creation of a Driver Exchange program.

"While some sectors of our industry are busier than ever, others have experienced a downturn as parts of our economy are progressively shut down to contain the spread of the virus," said Anderson. "The Driver Exchange program matches truck drivers and transport workers that have temporarily lost their jobs with industries where there has been a surge in demand for driver."