The Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed that the announcement of the JobKeeper package influenced 44% of businesses to retain staff.
In its latest survey to map out the impacts of COVID-19, the ABS found that a greater proportion of small (0-19 persons) and medium businesses (20-199) (both 45%), compared to large businesses (200+) (32%), reported that the JobKeeper Payment scheme influenced their decision to continue to employ staff. 
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
This interest in the scheme has seen three in five (61%) businesses register or intend to register for the payments.
Again, small and medium businesses are more likely to sign up for the program, with the ABS reporting that 61% of small and 60% of medium have already registered or intend to compared to 45% of large businesses.
Australian retailers have expressed their interest in the program, with 65% already registering or intending to. 
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
However, for the businesses that do not intend to register for the JobKeeper Payment scheme (33% of all businesses) the most common reason for not enrolling was not meeting the eligibility criteria (55%).
Large businesses were most likely to report not meeting the eligibility criteria, with 81% indicating this as the main factor for not registering.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
The ABS also enquired about other impacts of COVID-19 on businesses and found that seven in ten businesses expect that reduced cash flow (72%) and reduced demand for goods and services (69%) will have an adverse impact over the next two months.
More than half of all businesses in the Wholesale trade (66%), Retail trade (59%) and Manufacturing (59%) industries reported that supply chain uncertainty was expected to have an adverse impact, while several businesses commented on expected logistical issues due to interstate travel restrictions and border closures. 
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
The telephone-based business survey was conducted between 22 April and 28 April 2020, with a sample size of 2,014 businesses.
The results were released on May 04.