An independent audit of Jobkeeper by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has found the federal government largely implemented the pandemic support scheme effectively while having some shortcomings. The federal government created the JobKeeper scheme at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to keep Australians employed by supporting impacted businesses with payments of $1,500 (US$1,144) per worker per fortnight from March 30, 2020, to Sep. 28, 2020. The scheme was later extended twice at reduced rates. The ANAO audit report found that the Australian Tax Office (ATO), which was tasked with administering the scheme, made around $89 billion in JobKeeper payments, with an average of 3.6 million individuals receiving support monthly in the first six months. On average, the audit found that it took the ATO four days to process a claim, and businesses could claim the first monthly reimbursement five weeks after the government announced the scheme. However, the …