The Australian government has announced a $100m package of grants of up to $75,000 for primary producers affected by bushfires.

Scott Morrison and the agriculture minister, Bridget McKenzie, announced the extension of category D funding for “exceptional circumstances” on Tuesday, before a small business roundtable at which the business community is expected to push for a similar deal forthose indirectly affected by the national crisis.

The prime minister told reporters in Canberra the package would come from the $2bn of disaster relief funding already announced, although it will be demand-driven and not capped at $100m.

The grants available to 19,000 farmers, fishers and foresters in fire-affected areas match the federal package in response to the north Queensland floods, and will be administered by the states, which will make fast-tracked assessments of eligibility.

Morrison said funding could be spent on anything from rebuilding sheds to repairing fences, replacing equipment including solar panels and disposing of livestock.

The package includes an extra $15m for 60 more rural financial counsellors.

Tuesday’s small business roundtable is the second of a series announced by Morrison. The first on Friday on health produced a $76m package for free counselling sessions, with further roundtables to follow on the environment, agriculture, tourism, education and the science of natural disasters and mitigation.

Dugald Murray, the executive director of policy, trade and public affairs at the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Guardian Australia the meeting would allow businesses to present evidence about the impact of bushfires and “advocate for the right levels of assistance”.

Murray said there had been “confusion” because, while disaster relief funding for individuals, state and local government had been extended in both New South Wales and Victoria, funding for small businesses has been approved for NSW but not yet for Victoria.

Category C funding is available for small businesses and primary producers where the impact of disaster is “severe”, after a request from the states and agreement from the prime minister. It is usually considered once the impacts of the disaster on affected communities have been assessed.

NSW had approval for category C funding because fires have been burning in that state for longer and Murray said the federal government was “actively focused” on extending it to other states such as Victoria.

Morrison confirmed that the national security committee of cabinet had considered a small business package, with an announcement to follow by the week’s end.

A burnt business sign lies in a front yard in Mogo on the NSW south coast. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/Reuters

Murray said that, according to figures provided to the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry by the Victorian Tourism Industry Council, tourism businesses in the two Victorian bushfire zones had suffered 100% cancellation rates, while those outside the areas directly affected still suffered rates ranging from 10% to 60%.

“We have assurances from both [state and federal] levels of government that they are working on an assistance package for business,” he said. “Tourism is the canary in the coalmine in this situation – it’s discretionary spending so that’s what people tend to cancel first – but it flows through to other businesses and industries.”

The Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia’s chief executive, Peter Strong, said the government and the emergency management minister, David Littleproud, had been “very open” to the needs of small business.

“What [small business groups are] concerned about is mental health – initially – what they’re hearing is their members are concerned about their employees.

“The next is cashflow; what do you do if you run a small supermarket with $60,000 of goods which all perished because the freezer has not been working without power? You need another $60,000 to restock.”

Strong said support was needed in areas with no bushfires but affected by disasters nearby, such as Braidwood, a town on the Kings Highway between Canberra and Batemans Bay.

“It’s a ghost town,” he said. “Their sales at this time of year are dependent on that Canberra traffic and ordinarily they make a motza – the fires have had a big impact.”

More than 100,000 businesses have been indirectly affected by the fires, including self-employed contractors who don’t employ others, Strong said. “The government has not put one barrier in the way of these issues – they’ve been clear everything is on the table.”

Strong said the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia had also worked with Energy Australia, which had agreed to turn off automated payment demands to businesses in affected areas, and the Business Council of Australia, to speed up payments from big businesses to their small business suppliers.

The tourism roundtable will be held on Friday. Tourism Australia has issued guidance to international tourists that although fires have impacted parts of Australia, “many parts … remain unaffected and are welcoming visitors” and will consider inviting international journalists to demonstrate Australia that is still open for business.

On Sunday Morrison revealed that he had been in “direct contact at senior levels of the US administration” after the US advised travellers to consider postponing their travel to areas where air quality is significantly affected by bushfire conditions.

On Tuesday he thanked the US for downgrading the advice to instead exercise increased caution.

Similar efforts are occurring behind the scenes with other major sources of tourists to Australia, including Germany and the UK.

Before the roundtable the small and family business minister Michaelia Cash said the government was “ready for ideas and proposals from stakeholders that will see these small businesses and the families that run them through the recovery and beyond”.

“These businesses are viable but vulnerable and we need to do everything we can to get them back on their feet.”