small business

3G shutdown to affect small, family and farming businesses

Emily Carter — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 05:47:07 +0000

3G shutdown to affect small, family and farming businesses Emily Carter Tue, 08/20/2024 - 15:47

19 August 2024

Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson interview with Leon Delaney.

Radio 2CC Canberra

Subject: 3G shutdown to affect small, family and farming businesses

Leon Delaney

There are lots and lots and lots of pieces of business equipment that might well be caught up in the phase out of 3G. Joining me now, the Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson. Good afternoon.

Bruce Billson

Leon, great to be with you and your listeners.

Leon Delaney

Thanks for joining us today. I was a little bit surprised by just how long this list of business equipment and other related devices actually is. There's a lot of gear on there, isn't there?

Bruce Billson

Yeah, there is. And one of the things is it's not that obvious. I mean, at least with the old handsets, you get a bit of a hint when you're using it. A little symbol comes up in the top corner telling you what network you're on. So, there's at least something that might prompt you to think about it. But in terms of business equipment, your example with the transport system in Canberra is a classic one. No one gives a lot of thought to what the wireless connection is in the background busily doing its thing, whilst what you focus on as the primary purpose of that equipment does its thing.

So, you can think about everything from those point of pay, black square things you wave your card in front of, they might have a 3G chip sitting behind them to conclude the transaction. Even lifts, those emergency buttons you push if you're stuck in a lift, many of those are on 3G. And then all the way through to farming and equipment that might monitor water levels, open doors for stock, even your friendly surveyor, that little Total Station - doesn't sound as much fun as Theodolite - but a lot of those Total Stations, they use 3G as their communication link as well.

Leon Delaney

Now the obvious one, of course, is point of sale EFTPOS machines. I'm sure most of them have been updated, but there might still be some businesses with older machines that might be impacted.

Bruce Billson

And that's a concern. You might have had your system set up and going well. You might be a small business that sells miniature goats at the Murrumbateman market, and you probably don't give a lot of thought to what the little tap-and-pay device is that you use. In many cases, the older ones are using 3G as the communications link. So, what I'm urging people to do is, it might not be immediately obvious, but if you've got a piece of kit that's got a bit of a wireless connection, please check that out so that you don't find that equipment, all of a sudden, doesn't work when you need to count on it.

Leon Delaney

There are some other unexpected things that can also be caught up. There’re various pieces of computer software relating to record keeping, accounts and bookings and things like that. I'm not sure how that relies on 3G but apparently there are some circumstances where that might be the case.

Bruce Billson

That's where the records may be stored. You might have a tablet or a device that clocks when you're coming into work and when you're leaving. And then it might quietly go off to a central system that processes your pay. And there's other tracking monitoring equipment, like assets have a little device on them that lets you know where they are and what they're doing. And those are examples that aren't immediately obvious. But gee, if you're a business and you're counting on them to work, and all of a sudden, the day after October 28 they don't happen, that can come as a real shock, and the pressures on. So, we're saying, if you're not sure, check it out. Contact the suppliers of that equipment, ask the question, and don't become a casualty of loss of 3G functionality is our message.

Leon Delaney

Some of the more alarming things, if you'll pardon the pun, fire alarms and security systems could also be impacted. It is important that you check your equipment and find out whether it relies on the 3G network. How can business owners actually do that simply and easily? It sounds a bit complicated if you've got to track down every single manufacturer for every single piece of equipment that you have?

Bruce Billson

Sadly, the answer is yes, it is. It can be quite tedious. That's why, when the Senate was probing these issues, we were urging the telcos themselves to have a look at their billing data to say, well, who's paying to use the spectrum, the 3G service? And encouraging those telcos to get up and about talking with what's called third party equipment service providers, to at least have those service providers lean in and be proactive rather than wait for people to contact them.

Leon Delaney

Is there a sort of a simple rule of thumb? Because obviously 4G was introduced quite a while ago now, and I can't remember what date that was. But if you've got equipment that was built after a certain date, that should be safe, would that be right?

Bruce Billson

Look, that could be right. I'd hate to give that sort of advice on the run. It is best to check with the equipment suppliers. But even on the telephony thing, you may well have a 4G phone, but it might divert to 3G for emergency calls. In that case, best to jump on the website 3gclosure.com - there's a little process you can go through to check your handsets, because there's still thought to be nearly 100,000 people that haven't changed over. That's easy for that. The process around checking what's in your equipment, that's a little more complicated.

Leon Delaney

Yeah, I don't know, technology Bruce, it's a wonderful thing isn't it, so long as it actually works. I tend to keep on using something until it breaks. And if it's 10 years old, but it still does the job just fine, why do I need to get a new one? It's not fair, Bruce.

Bruce Billson

If you were a cattle rustler and you've got your Herefords down in the back paddock, and all of a sudden, a gate randomly opens because the technology is no longer there for you, I reckon that's not a good way to find out that it's not working.

Leon Delaney

Bruce, thanks very much for chatting today.

Rising cost of small business insurance

Emily Carter — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 23:51:02 +0000

Rising cost of small business insurance Emily Carter Tue, 08/13/2024 - 09:51

12 August 2024

Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson interview with Eddie Williams.

ABC Radio South-East NSW

Subject: rising cost of small business insurance

Eddie Williams

Insurance is one of the biggest upfront costs for small businesses and over the last few years it seems like that cost has only been going up. A parliamentary inquiry is looking into the impact of climate risk on insurance premiums, not only impacting homeowners and property owners, but small business as well. Since the black summer fires, insurers have paid out nearly $17 billion in natural disaster claims across the country. Bruce Billson is the Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman and has made a submission to this inquiry.

Bruce Billson, good morning. How much of an impact are insurance costs having on small business at the moment?

Bruce Billson

Eddie, good to be with you and your listeners. It's having an enormous impact in that we've seen, particularly in New South Wales, when small businesses are asked what are their biggest pressure points for input costs – we understand them as cost-of-living pressures in households, these are business input costs for businesses – they’re citing insurance quite regularly and quite consistently. There's a couple of reasons for that. One, you touched on the simple maths, which is insurers are paying out a lot of a lot of money and they're looking to recover those funds and provision for future events with the premiums themselves and the pricing of them. There's a hardening in the insurance market. So, the appetite for insurers to come into Australia, and even for reinsurers a long way away from our shores to sort of underwrite catastrophic events is really being challenged at the present time. But I suppose the other point too, which is a little bit different from households, not that I would recommend people under insure or self-insure or choose other options. That's not an option available to most businesses, Eddie. They've got to have certain insurances to meet licensing requirements, obligations that they have to have in place so they can engage in trade or commerce. So they can't really get away from it and that's where it's really causing a great deal of pain for small and family businesses, particularly in your listening region.

Eddie Williams

And in this region which has experienced the worst of fire also flooding in recent years as well. How resilient are small businesses? How do they go in that recovery from disasters?

Bruce Billson

We've done a lot of work on this and, interestingly, only about one-in-four have an up-to-date continuity plan to deal with an event that really knocks their business off course. You know, it may be a natural disaster. It may be some event that surrounds a region that really impacts on the economy. Or it might be something that happens to the person that brings in the money, the core of the business, a health event for them. All of those things can really knock the business off track. Yet so few actually have what's called a business continuity plan. And those plans think about things not going the way you hope for, and what would you do about them. Do you have insurance? Do you have the kind of data that you know if your property is taken out by a natural disaster, that you can reach for key contact numbers? Do you have your business systems and invoicing and accounts in the cloud so that you can recover and get yourself back in shape?

And what we found was the better prepared people are clearly their prospects for recovery are improved. But it's not front of mind, and right now with 46% of businesses not making a profit, they're just trying to keep the lights on Eddie and trying to keep a pulse in the business. So some of these issues around planning and the business of running the business is probably not as front of mind for some and then when there's a disaster looming, it's action stations everywhere and that sometimes is not the time to be really planning for those sorts of events. You're really just prepping for something coming your way and hoping it's not catastrophic.

So it's really challenging at that level when it’s a tight-margin, not a lot of huge profits around, lots of other pressures in the economy, lots of headwinds facing small and family businesses. And then fold in the concern around an event really taking the business out or knocking it off course, and the cost pressures involved in having proper and appropriate insurance.

Eddie Williams

On ABC South-East, and you're hearing from the Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, on issues when it comes to insurance and disaster resilience for small business. There's something elsewhere in the country - the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool. You've suggested expanding that to include other disasters like fire and flood. In simple terms, how does it work? And how would it work?

Bruce Billson

The government's involved itself in the north of the country, and understandably so. Where there's a catastrophic event, a cyclone, those numbers that are paid out by insurers are eye-watering. They are enormous sums of money, because there's vast areas that are impacted, and the sums involved are very significant where property and assets are taken out.

What's happened after a series of cyclones in the north of Australia, insurers are saying, ‘Yeah, nah, I don't think we want to insure people up in this part of the world because of these natural disasters.’ So the government said, look, we just can't leave people to defend for themselves without any kind of insurance cover. What is needed to bring insurers back into the marketplace? And what was identified was this reinsurance pool.

So, imagine you and I are insurers. We go insure some properties down at Merimbula. Something terrible happens, it's an enormous sum of money for you and I. We as insurers then can insure against that happening, and then go and transfer some of the risk onto a reinsurance pool that steps in when those numbers are really eye-watering, and they risk bringing down our insurance arrangements, or impacting on whether we want to insure those properties in the first place, if that makes sense Eddie. So, it's like a second step in insurance for the insurers themselves to guard against really, really big claims being made. And that's what a reinsurance pool does.

That logic makes sense in Northern Australia for a range of reasons, but those reasons are starting to appear in other regions, and we should turn our mind to whether that's a mechanism to make sure businesses and households in, say the Bega Valley, have multiple options of insurers. Get some competition happening because people know that they have a reinsurance pool that's sitting behind them in the event that a really catastrophic event occurs.

And this is an example that's happened in the UK. There's parts of the UK you've seen those lifestyle TV shows, Eddie, I'm sure you're loving those if you listening to Boz Scaggs, where you can get on a canal and boat your way around. And clearly, those areas are subject to inundation by floods. And with the impact of climate change and more severe weather events, you're seeing those floods really impacting on those regions. And insurers saying, maybe this is a place where we don't want to insure properties. In the UK example, the UK government got involved and created a reinsurance pool called Flood Re, and Flood Re was there to back up those insurers in those regions in the event of a really catastrophic disaster.

Eddie Williams

Very, very briefly, consumer protections. Are they strong enough? Are there any for small business when they're dealing with insurance?

Bruce Billson

Well, the thing is, knowing exactly what's covered. This is the problem. For a lot of people, time-poor small businesses, insurance can be a pay it once, set and forget, move on with your life. But as we've seen so many times, Eddie, you pay for something called business interruption insurance, your business is comprehensively interrupted by an event, and then you're told, Oh, hang on, in the fine print, that's not covered. So that's not good enough. We're arguing for a simplification, a clarity around what kind of cover is available so people can make better and informed decisions. And then encourage people to stay close to their insurance so they know what's going on. They know what is covered, and they also know what they can do to improve their the risk so they mitigate risk, make themselves more attractive to insurers, and then hopefully have improved accessibility and affordability of that cover.

Eddie Williams

Bruce Billson, thanks very much for your time this morning.

Bruce Billson

Good to be with you. Take care.

Making the ecosystem more supportive for small business

Emily Carter — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 00:05:01 +0000

Making the ecosystem more supportive for small business Emily Carter Thu, 08/08/2024 - 10:05

08 August 2024

Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson interview with Lisa Millar.

ABC News Breakfast

Subject: 14 Steps to energise enterprise, tap-and-go merchant fees, digital platform disputes, small business owners getting older, regulatory burden on small business, making the ecosystem more supportive for small business

Lisa Millar

Many of us are aware of fees on the tap-and-go at the checkout or the train station but how many Australians know that retailers and service providers also take a hit? That's among a growing area of concerns for the nation's �Թ�� Ombudsman, who's published a list of measures he'd like to see tackled. Ombudsman Bruce Billson joins us now from Canberra. Bruce, good morning. Welcome to the program.

Bruce Billson

Lisa fab to be with you and your audience and how good are the Olympians! There's also a group of Australians that need their personal best every day and, in some cases, needing to be world class every day. And that's the women and men owning and leading small business. So that's what gets me out of bed.

Lisa Millar

Well, how do you want to try and get them some gold medals because you’re really worried about this tap-and-go cost and I'm curious about that because I'm not sure a lot of viewers would realise how much of a hit they're taking. Talk us through it.

Bruce Billson

It's one of 14 really practical measures that we're encouraging our leaders and our policymakers to embrace to improve the ecosystem for small and family businesses. This tap-and-go arrangement, it incurs higher fees where people's transactions are routed through those international cards when there are cheaper options available. We think there's about $800 million to $1 billion worth of savings there, and small businesses needs that help right now. It's a needless additional cost impost.

The cost-of-living pressure we rightly turn our mind to, are business cost input pressures on small and family businesses who are really doing it tough right now, and that's a practical step that will give just a little bit of breathing space as they tackle a really challenging time.

Lisa Millar

So, what are you saying, the credit card companies should wear the cost and not be passing that on to the small businesses?

Bruce Billson

Well, most of our banks have their relationship with their merchants. Those EFTPOS machines have the capacity to switch to a lesser cost option. Only half of those machines have been activated to do so. So, the big banks really need to lead on this front. Merchants, small businesses, need to be aware of the impact, and also for consumers that don't want to pay surcharges and the like, let's go with the cheaper option. That's one of a number of ways we can reduce those input cost pressures that are adding to a really challenging time for small business owners.

Lisa Millar

You know what? Something else that jumped out at me in the figures that you've been looking at is the number of people who've been employed by small businesses, and how much that's changed over the years.

Bruce Billson

It's a worrying trajectory and I'm calling it out because I think we really need to turn our minds to it. We are sleepwalking into a big corporate economy, where complexity in the economy, challenges that are faced, they might be fine for a big corporate that's got dozens of people in the back room doing the business of the business, but it's tough for small business.

Right now, we celebrate the one-third of Gross Domestic Product that's generated in our economy by small and family businesses, and the two-in-five jobs that are made possible by these small employers. But just less than 20 years ago, it wasn't one-third of the economy, it was 40 per cent were being driven by small business. And it wasn't two-in-five jobs, half of private sector job numbers was being enabled by a small business. They’re also known to be the ones driving training. It's where innovation comes from. We really need to make the ecosystem more supportive for those small businesses.

Lisa Millar

And the other red flag about that, of course, is that small business owners, the average age, is getting older. So, you look at the figures and the lower profits, and you'd ask a young person, why would they bother starting a small business?

Bruce Billson

And you're right on the money. We think the risk-reward balance has got a little bit out of whack. The regulatory burden is growing. The complexity and consequences is getting more profound. And for people that go into a business, the jam - what motivates them - is not the business of running the business. So, let's not make that so hard that the reason that motivates people to get into business is overwhelmed by these other burdens.

Our research and the Tax Office figures show that 46 per cent of businesses in the last full year where records are available weren't making a profit. For those million and a half people that are self-employed, three-quarters of those, whose full-time livelihood is their self-employment, are taking home less than average weekly earnings. And the average age is 50. We've got about 8 per cent, Lisa, that are under the age of 30. It was 17 per cent in the ‘70s.

So, we really think you need to energise enterprise. There's much joy to be found in leading and owning your own business, but the business of running the business is becoming so much more of a big challenge and a big responsibility.

Lisa Millar

Hey, Bruce, just before you go, there's another point that I think we really need to make, and that's about the social media that a lot of these small businesses rely on, whether it's Facebook or Instagram or all the rest of it. But when there's a problem, if they've been hacked, they've got nowhere to go, they can't get the help they need. What do you want to see happen?

Bruce Billson

Well, we want the big tech companies to step up. You can imagine if yours and my business was reliant on social media and those e-commerce channels as the only way we could contact our customers. We're hacked, we can't get into our account. Can you imagine how frustrating it is that the advice from those big tech firms is, can you please log into your account to tell us you can't log into your account? I mean, come on, to quote John McEnroe, you can't be serious. That is something that's got to change. We think those dispute resolution processes need to be improved. How about having a real person to talk to? Otherwise, come to my agency, and we've been working hard to get outcomes, to get business back to business.

Lisa Millar

A real person to talk to. What a novel idea. Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, great to talk to you this morning. Thanks for coming on the show.

Bruce Billson

Thanks for your interest, Lisa.

Small business warned - Don't be caught out by 3G switch-off

Emily Carter — Tue, 28 May 2024 23:57:55 +0000

Small business warned - Don't be caught out by 3G switch-off Emily Carter Wed, 05/29/2024 - 09:57

29 May 2024

The Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, has urged small, family and farming businesses to make sure they are not caught out by the 3G switch-off happening in August and September.

“The 3G switch-off will affect more than just your mobile phone signal,” Mr Billson said.

“It could affect EFTPOS terminals, security systems and cameras, scanners, industrial routers, tablets, smart watches, asset tracking tools, surveying instrument, water and environmental monitoring and many of the wireless operating systems on farms.”

“Even some 4G-enabled devices have aspects that are powered by 3G, but users may not realise until they stop working, so it makes sense to have those checked as well.

“It is vital small, family and farming businesses take action urgently to find out if they will be affected and if so, upgrade their technology before business-harming disconnection and technology dysfunction is the first they learn about it.”

Mr Billson said small businesses should contact their telecommunications provider or device manufacturer to confirm if a device will be affected.

“But beware of scams and only contact mobile providers using trusted information and links,” he said.

Telstra recently announced that it will delay its 3G network switch off until 31 August 2024. Optus is planning to switch off its 3G network from 1 September 2024. TPG Telecom/Vodafone has already switched off its 3G network.

Those on the Telstra or Optus network can text “3” to the number 3498 and will receive a response whether that device is affected.

For more information:

Telstra
- Visit: www.telstra.com.au/support/mobiles-devices/3g-closure
- Call:13 22 00
Optus
- Visit: www.optus.com.au/3g
- Call: 133 937
Vodafone/TPG Telecom
- Visit: https://www.vodafone.com.au/support/network/3g-closure

The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association also has information at www.3gclosure.com.au and a fact sheet https://amta.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/3G-Closure-Fact-Sheet-new.pdf

OMBUDSMAN’S MEDIA CONTACT: 0448 467 178

MEDIA RELEASE: Small business Ombudsman's guide to using social media securely

Emily Carter — Tue, 28 May 2024 23:20:09 +0000

MEDIA RELEASE: Small business Ombudsman's guide to using social media securely Emily Carter Wed, 05/29/2024 - 09:20

28 May 2024

The Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, has released a guide for small businesses using social media as their business platform, with tips to reduce the chances of being hacked.

“Using social media can be a valuable way to grow and increase awareness of your business with existing and potential new customers, but there are important precautions that must be taken” Mr Billson said.

“Digital platforms have fundamentally changed the way small businesses connect and sell to their customers. Yet, when there is a problem – such as having your account shut down after being hacked – solving it can be a nightmare.”

Mr Billson said the number of cases involving a small business having problem with a digital platform has more than doubled since July 2022 (up by 127 per cent) and continues to be one of the top requests for assistance that requires a case manager to get involved.

Two-thirds of the cases relate to Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, and 75 per cent of those disputes last month alone were about getting access to an account after being hacked.

“In too many cases, when there is a problem, these platforms require a time and resource-poor small business to navigate the most elaborate maze of dead-ends and blockages,” Mr Billson said.

“One of the absurdities of the current situation is after being locked out of your account, you need to access your account to make a complaint. It’s the ultimate run around.”

Mr Billson said the free Guide to Using �Թ�� Securely include tips for small and family businesses about how to reduce the risk of being hacked and steps that can be taken with the digital platforms if you are.

The free guide is available on the ASBFEO website at www.asbfeo.gov.au/sm-securely

“We have helped many small and family businesses across various digital platforms to resolve their disputes, and this guide includes some simple cyber security tips and practices for small businesses to protect themselves,” he said.

“It is important to not overlook important security elements when operating on social media, including how to reduce the risk of your social media accounts being hacked.”

When setting up a business on a digital platform:

Create your profile with the level of privacy and settings you are comfortable with, and that you can easily control and manage.
Make sure you can remove other users or profiles connected to the account and can control their level of page access.
Confirm you can turn ads on or off and can remove or update advertising payment information.
Have your account/s set up so the platform can communicate with you either via an app, text message or email to help with account recovery (should you need it).
Create a separate payment method that is only used for your social media account/s and set a limit on spending.
Keep your account details in a safe place. If your account is hacked and/or disabled, you may need to provide the URL for all your pages/accounts; the phone number and email address; and a screenshot of your page/s with the business name.
Consider expanding your business online presence to more than one platform. If your account is disabled, you can use the other platforms to continue to operate and keep your business going.

“Treat your online business security like you would a shop, factory or your home,” Mr Billson said.

“You wouldn’t give a person you have just met the keys to your business or your house, so only give access to your business account to trusted individuals. And remember not all users require full admin access.

“If you are hacked, report your issue immediately to the platform and make sure you are actually communicating with the platform and not the hacker.”

Mr Billson called on digital platform providers to improve their dispute resolution services.

“Big Tech must do better by its small and family business customers that depend on them,” he said.

“Some of the delays experienced by small businesses have lasted many months and having someone else access and control their account is devastating for their business and their reputation,” he said.

“Small businesses watch helplessly as the financial and emotional damage occurs in real time with no ability to stop it. They lose customers and money, if a credit card linked to these accounts if being used by the hacker or the hacker uses the account to access and harm other customers.

“We are urgently calling for codified, dependable and easy to use internal dispute resolution processes to be adopted by these digital platforms that can get problems resolved quickly.

“They need to be backed up by a real person you can speak to when a problem can’t be easily fixed.

“And this can be supported by a promoted external dispute resolution service, such as ASBFEO, for small businesses that can’t gain a satisfactory outcome when working directly with the platforms.

“Whether it is Facebook, Instagram, Uber, Amazon, eBay, Shopify or any of the many other digital platform providers, across the board there is an urgent need for them to do better by their small and family business customers.”

MEDIA CONTACT: 0448 467 178

Small business needs certainty

Emily Carter — Fri, 17 May 2024 06:20:51 +0000

Small business needs certainty Emily Carter Fri, 05/17/2024 - 16:20

17 May 2024

The Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, is urging Federal Parliament to give certainty to small business about two crucial tax breaks announced in last year’s budget.

“Time is running out with just six weeks until the end of the financial year for small business to claim these deductions, but they still don’t know if they’re allowed to make the claims,” Mr Billson said.

“We’re hearing from confused small businesses who just want certainty.”

“I encourage the Parliament to act swiftly to guarantee these small business tax incentives.”

The two measures relate to the instant asset write-off and a tax-incentive for energy efficiency upgrades.

The legislation would set the instant asset write-off at $20,000 for businesses with a turnover of up to $10 million, allowing them to deduct up to that amount for eligible assets between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.

(The Treasurer announced in this week’s budget the scheme would be extended to 30 June 2025.)

Without legislation authorising the change, small businesses can only write-off $1000 for eligible assets and then apply general depreciation rules.

Similarly, the small business energy incentive worth up to $20,000, announced in April 2023 ahead of last year’s budget, will provide an additional 20 per cent depreciation for eligible assets that support electrification and more efficient use of energy by small businesses.

The bonus will be available to businesses with an annual turnover of less than $50 million and is aimed at helping them save on energy bills by making investments like electrifying their heating and cooling systems, upgrading to more efficient fridges and induction cooktops, and installing batteries and heat pumps.

“The scheme requires eligible assets or upgrades to be first used or installed ready for use between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024, but with the legislation still not passed time is fast running out for small businesses to meet that deadline,” Mr Billson said.

“This uncertainty has highlighted the need for predictability and certainty so a small business can plan in a sure-footed way for important investments that uplift the capacity, the productivity and drive innovation in their business.

“Right now, we need to be energising enterprise. We need to be giving more encouragement for people to turn an idea into an investment and to make that big decision to turn scarce resources into new capability, new equipment, new technology to help with the success of that enterprise and the livelihoods that depend upon it.

“Having that encouragement to invest in new kit, new plant and equipment, new technology is really an important signal, but what’s needed is the certainty that these tax breaks are real.”

The instant asset write-off is an ongoing incentive with the amount and threshold set each year. The energy incentive is a one-off scheme that ends in six weeks.

Concerned small businesses should seek advice from their accountant, bookkeeper, tax agent or trusted adviser and refer to ato.gov.au for more information.

MEDIA CONTACT: 0448 467 178

TRANSCRIPT: Creating a �Թ�� and Codes List for the Federal Circuit Court

Emily Carter — Thu, 02 May 2024 06:41:11 +0000

TRANSCRIPT: Creating a �Թ�� and Codes List for the Federal Circuit Court Emily Carter Thu, 05/02/2024 - 16:41

29 April 2024

TRANSCRIPT

Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson interview with Leon Delaney.

2CC Radio Canberra

Subject: Creating a �Թ�� and Codes List for the Federal Circuit Court

Leon Delaney

Well, thanks for joining us. You've been writing today about the importance of legal protections for small business and the unfortunate situation where small businesses that have effectively been dudded by big businesses have very limited options in trying to set things right.

Bruce Billson

Yeah, it's a concern. Just as the dark clouds roll in over the capital, Leon, sometimes those dark clouds for a small business can be another business treating them appallingly and in some respects in breach of the law. Now, the law might be competition and consumer law. There might be false and misleading representations that lulled them into doing something they otherwise wouldn't. Maybe unfair contract terms, another area where small businesses gain protections as if they were consumers. Or it might be an industry code like in franchising where there's certain bumper rails around what's reasonable commercial conduct.

If they're harmed by behaviour outside those rules of the road, it's too expensive for a small business to pursue that matter on their own behalf because they head off to the Federal Court of Australia. And that's a couple of hundred thousand dollars and a couple of years wait and that's why so much pressure then gets put onto our regulators to pick up those case matters and actually provide the protection that the small business is looking for and that these laws promise, but often doesn't materialise because of the barriers in implementing action in support of those laws.

Leon Delaney

Now, you've explained in your article today that the reason these matters go to the Federal Court of Australia is because that's how it's designed in the Constitution. And because of that there's no federal equivalent of what many states and territories have, a small claims tribunal where some of these matters might have otherwise been determined. But you've come up with a kind of solution, a way to create an equivalent to a small claims tribunal, but it's within the Federal Court.

Bruce Billson

That's right, Leon, because Chapter III of our Constitution says if there's any decision to be enforced on parties to a matter before a judgment body, it has to be before a court, or it could be a tribunal if the parties agree. And that's how you see things like the Administrative Appeals Tribunal have a role. People, when they're applying for certain things, they agree to be bound by it. That's okay.

But in a commercial dispute, how do you get the parties to agree to that kind of process? More often than not, the bigger, well-resourced party will think, hang on, let's go off to the Federal Court. We've got more money. We'll starve out the small business. They won't be able to stay in the case and we'll end up winning.

So, what we've said is, let's find a right-sized jurisdiction. A process where these smaller value matters up to, say, $1,000,000, which, you know, is everything to a small business, but in the scheme of a major corporate matter, probably not much in their eyes.

Send the really big price tag, really big penalty matters off to the Federal Court. But have these more immediate small business matters dealt with by the Federal Family and Circuit Court by creating a �Թ�� and Codes List that they can oversee. And cap the judgments or the penalties at $1,000,000, get matters heard quickly and get business back to business.

Leon Delaney

So, in other words, create a branch of the Federal Court that operates much like a small claims tribunal.

Bruce Billson

Spot on. That's right. We'd say, look, bring your matters, carry your own costs. One of the big issues about the Federal Court is if you and I took an action against a big party, they often introduce us to their legal team because under the Federal Court, in many cases, we get to pay their costs if we lose.

Now, that's one of the things that's very intimidating, that makes that access to justice out of reach and inaccessible to the average small or family business. What we're talking about is very responsive, let's use alternative dispute resolution first, let’s see what can be agreed long before we trouble His or Her Honour as the judge. But actually get to a point quicker, pay your own costs and have court rules that allow the court to appoint a technical expert on a matter of some technical disagreement rather than have lawyers walk in with trolleys of information where one expert is, you know, duelling with the other expert and burns up costs, time and resources and doesn't get you anywhere near an early resolution.

Leon Delaney

Okay. So, where's the ACCC and where’s the ASIC in all of this? Aren't they meant to be enforcing the rules?

Bruce Billson

They're really important players, Leon. But like this agency, they are funded by the taxpayer. So, when they decide which matters to pick up, to litigate, to investigate, they have to work out how to ration the money that's been available to them for that kind of enforcement.

And guess what? It's no big surprise. They’ll choose the big bang matters. They'll choose the cases that have a material impact on the economy, might be what’s called a systemic failure where problems have occurred over and over again. Or it might have considerable public interest.

If you and I, as prospective franchisees, put $600,000 down as a deposit on a franchise unit and then we decide quite reasonably under the cooling off arrangements we don’t want to proceed, we want to get our money back. What happens if we don’t get our money back? At the moment, we hope and pray the regulators will pick up that matter, but it's highly unlikely that they will. We need to be able to defend our own economic interests and have a jurisdiction, a court process, that lends itself to us directly engaging.

Leon Delaney

And in fact, the best line in the entire article refers to the inadequacy of those regulators for those reasons. And it says this: So, the law looks like it's a hunting dog that won't leave the porch. I love that.

Bruce Billson

I use that phrase to try and make the point that laws and regulations are passed by parliaments. These codes are put in place, and they promise much to the small and family businesses that rely upon them.

And I think the regulators and law makers hope the simple existence of those laws will mean people will be less inclined to infringe upon them. Well, that may have some merit, but the reality is when things go wrong and the law needs to be enforced, too often those regulators aren't there for them. The court system through the Federal Court is not a reasonable option, and we are proposing a really constructive solution to that to get matters resolved and get business back to business.

Leon Delaney

Okay. So, have you put this idea to the federal Minister for �Թ��, Julie Collins?

Bruce Billson

It's one of a number we've put in, not just to Minister Collins. You've known me long enough, Leon, to know it wouldn't just be one or two people I'm sharing this idea with. We've been pushing this out to any and all people that are interested, including ministers, including parliamentary inquiries and including in the in the court of public opinion being through channels like the op-ed that you're referring to at the commencement of this interview.

We're really working closely with collaborators to make sure the model is sound. It meets a range of expectations, including, for instance IP Australia, Intellectual Property Australia. What happens if someone's got an idea, you claim it's yours, well it’s really hard to get that heard quickly. Here’s another opportunity this Federal Circuit Court List could present to make that process more accessible and, frankly, function as it was intended.

Leon Delaney

If you’ve been putting out the feelers already, has there been any kind of interest expressed from the Federal Government?

Bruce Billson

We’ve had some encouragement to work up the idea and that’s what we’re doing. I’ve been working with some people in the judiciary, working with the legal fraternity, working with industry associations to map out the scope of this idea. One of the challenges I have Leon is to prove the need for it and that’s a challenge because we’re talking about people who would have defended their economic interest had this mechanism been there. The fact that it’s not there, how do you find those people?

So, we’re looking at surveying the small business community, having a look at our own case load where our alternative dispute resolution hasn’t been able to get an outcome and asking those people if you had this avenue available to you would you have utilised it. Thats part of the work we’re doing.

Leon Delaney

So, on that basis if there are any small business operators listening at the moment and they’ve got a story to tell, they should get in contact with your office.

Bruce Billson

Absolutely. Jump on our website asbfeo.gov.au

We love that field evidence and that input. It helps bring together the evidence we need to make this public policy case.

Leon Delaney

Bruce, thanks very much for your time today.

TRANSCRIPT: Energising enterprise, celebrating small and family businesses, right-sized regulation, seafood industry labelling, procurement

Emily Carter — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 23:32:28 +0000

TRANSCRIPT: Energising enterprise, celebrating small and family businesses, right-sized regulation, seafood industry labelling, procurement Emily Carter Tue, 04/16/2024 - 09:32

15 April 2024

TRANSCRIPT

Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson interview with Leon Delaney.

Radio 2CC Canberra

Subjects: Energising enterprise, celebrating small and family businesses, right-sized regulation, seafood industry labelling, procurement.

Leon Delaney

The Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, has written an article published by the Canberra Times over the weekend, saying it's time to celebrate Australia's forgotten small business. Bruce, thanks for joining us. I know you haven't forgotten.

Bruce Billson

Leon, I hope not and I hope your listeners haven't either. And whilst you've got 10 days of sunny capital days ahead of us, not all the days are sunny for our hard-working small and family businesses and I was just keen to make sure that the plight of our small and family businesses is front of mind and bright on the radar screen. And that was the purpose behind that piece in the Canberra Times today.

Leon Delaney

Now what you've got here is obviously a delightful turn of phrase where you say that we must ensure small and family businesses can fire on all cylinders, a reference to the commonly asserted idea that small business is the engine room of the economy.

So, you've managed to extend that metaphor quite nicely there, but I got particularly inspired by the bit a little bit further down, you say, ‘Everyone asks what can we do to make things easier?’ And you've responded to that. ‘Well, we could stop making things harder.’ I mean, it's obvious, isn't it?

Bruce Billson

Well, it's a great place to start. And, I've used that ‘engine room of the economy’ analogy many times over many decades. But what I was trying to surface in that article is that whilst we see what's happening in the here and now, and it's great we celebrate that small and family businesses are contributing half a trillion dollars to our economy and you know, two out of five private sector jobs, they are things to herald, their great news stories.

But if you look at the trajectory over time, you actually see that as impressive as those things are, let’s pick the employment share, 42% of all private sector workforce provided by small and family businesses in 2021-22, but it was 53% in 2006-07. Even when you look at the share of Gross Domestic Product. Right now it's a little under a third, 32.4% and that is spectacularly impressive. But again, go back to 2006-2007, it was 41%.

So, I'm putting forward the idea that something's going on and that I think quietly we're heading more towards a big corporate economy than one that really support small and family businesses. Those headwinds are often more compliance obligations, regulatory burdens, things that, you know, if you and I were running a business, and we had 20 people in a compliance department, we'd take our stride.

But for small and family businesses, that compliance stuff, they'll do that at 10 o’clock at night and they'll do it themselves and they'll be the marketing person, they'll be the chief financial officer. They've got a lot on their plates. And the phrase I've used in there is let's stop adding to the wind in their face and let's really focus on putting wind in the sails of small and family businesses to enable them to be all they can be and to contribute all that they are able to our economy and our communities.

Leon Delaney

All of these very impressive efforts to turn negatives into positives. Bruce, you're convincing me that you're a glass half-full kind of guy.

Bruce Billson

Look, Leon, you've known me for a long time. I have to remain optimistic. And in fact, even my blood group is positive. So maybe it's the natural disposition. But it's also consistent with the outlook of small and family businesses.

They are the strongest, most powerful source of renewable energy, and that's their perpetual optimism. But we need to do what we can to enable an idea to turn into an investment. To enable a business concept, to actually become a new enterprise and to get the settings right in the ecosystem they operate in so that they're able to fulfill all of that potential.

And I think if people stopped and thought, wow, what's happening here, I think what we're seeing is the environment is more attractive for big corporates with greater resources, greater sophistication, greater ability to navigate ever increasing regulatory and compliance burdens and small businesses finding it more challenging because of those new imposts that they're having to navigate.

Leon Delaney

Now, in the latter part of your article, you've put forward a list of practical suggestions asking the question, what can we do that would be better than what we're doing right now? You've actually put forward a number of different suggestions, and I'm not sure why people haven't considered these suggestions before. They’re good common-sense suggestions, starting with how we assess the health of the economy and the health of small businesses in particular, and where do we have things like targets for deregulation and reducing red tape, that sort of thing?

Bruce Billson

Well, they're just practical ways forward. I'm not one to just complain and moan. I'm one to say, hang on, we can probably do better and here's what better looks like. You know, when governments and regulators are thinking about a new regulatory requirement and let's face it, we as a nation don't like seeing things happening that we're not particularly pleased about. And we want action taken to make sure it doesn't happen again. Well, that often means new imposts, new regulatory requirements. So, if it's hardest and most challenging for a small firm to meet ever increasing compliance obligations, surely that's where you start to work out what's the most appropriate, right-sized way to have a minimum effective degree of government involvement or new regulatory imposts?

It's about saying, let's weigh up what's going on. Let's right-size those impositions, let's evaluate what the impact is. Or even let's look at what a business naturally does. Is there some way of adapting that to meet some new and emerging requirement that doesn't impose another new process, another new action step or more time away unremunerated for the business owner to make sure they meet all of those obligations?

Leon Delaney

You also talk about things like regulatory impact statements that obviously are conducted in relation to the development of policy and so forth. But you've suggested that those statements should have a dedicated section dealing with the implications for small businesses. Again, it's one of those things that's blindingly obvious once it's put in front of your face, isn't it?

Bruce Billson

Well, you’d think so, but we recently had an issue regarding the labelling of seafood. Now I love seafood and I'd love it to come from Australia. And when I'm looking for that kind of involvement, I'll ask. I'll see what's labelled. And for those businesses whose sole purpose is to sell us seafood, there are current reporting obligations.

Now, another part of the economy thought, gee it would be good if we could expand that so that if you and I went to the Belconnen Pizzeria and we ordered a pizza with anchovies, amongst all the things the pizza operators got, they're going to tell you where the anchovies have come from, even though they might represent a microscopic percentage of the value and aren’t actually the real reason you're buying it. Or some prawns that are in your Thai takeaway that you picked up from Gungahlin.

We're saying, hang on a minute. This is a challenge for a small business for whom this isn't their primary source of income and it's not the majority of the value, and you're wanting them to keep track of those things when they might not know themselves. Or if you're not satisfied with their level of awareness about a small percentage of a dish you’re buying, well, maybe shop somewhere else.

But, no. We've now got a new regulatory requirement where the people thinking about it said don't worry, Bruce, they've all got electronic menu boards and it will just be an easy change. Walk around these shops Leon. They don't all have electronic menu boards. They're not easily changed and they represent another impost for what seems to be a marketing advantage for another section of the economy. When have we decided that is an appropriate motivation for new regulation and how has that been evaluated?

So that's one example. Before you make a decision, really work it hard to see what the impact is going to be for the smallest respondents who we want to see thrive and prosper, drive innovation and really lift the performance of the economy if they’ve got all this lead in the saddlebag, much of which I don't think they've been front of mind in when it was being formulated.

Leon Delaney

Well, I can assure you that I can relieve my local pizzeria of the responsibility of tracking anchovies. I will never order a pizza with anchovies because they are the work of the devil. They are hideous things.

Bruce Billson

Well, they're an acquired taste I’m told. But I’m using that one as an example. But even when you think about other challenges. Even the work we've been doing trying to ensure that small and family businesses get a bigger share of Commonwealth procurement opportunities. You don't want that as your ambition but then having behind it a whole bunch of requirements, that actually steer the outcome into the court of large firms because, you know, their best placed to navigate those requirements.

I'm saying it's time to really put the wind in the sails of small business, energise enterprise, and really have that as a front of mind policy objective and then celebrate the success and let people know that these enterprising men and women are vital to our communities and the quality of life that we enjoy.

And let's remember Leon, small and family businesses are time poor. They don't have lobbyists. They don't have government relations specialists walking the halls of power. They're counting on all of us who believe and sincerely believe in the importance of their contribution, to have our voices heard. And that's part of the responsibility of my office as the Ombudsman.

Leon Delaney

Bruce, thanks very much for your time today.

Bruce Billson

Thanks Leon. I'm grateful for your interest.

Leon Delaney

Thank you. Bruce Billson, The Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman.

It's time to celebrate Australia's small businesses

Olivia Pearce — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 02:40:02 +0000

It's time to celebrate Australia's small businesses Olivia Pearce Mon, 04/15/2024 - 12:40

15 April 2024

Originally published in The Canberra Times.

By Bruce Billson.

It is often said small business is the engine room of the economy. We must ensure small and family business can fire on all cylinders - not have a cylinder taken out.

We need to get the risk and reward balance right, make small business and entrepreneurship a really attractive option for people, then create a supportive ecosystem to give enterprising people the best chance to be successful.

There's a lot of things coming 'at' the small business community. We seem to be perpetually involved in consultation about a new imposition, a new measure, a new burden, a new complication that's on top of the challenges and those late night compliance activities those of us that have run a business know we are contending with right now.

It seems so often we are there to mitigate the worst of new headwinds. That we're trying to make something that's not that great, a little less bad.

Everyone asks, what can we do to make things easier? Well, we could stop making them harder. There's a tip.

We need to shift the mindset from minimising headwinds to maximising the "wind in the sails" of our hard-working small and family businesses.

I think the greatest renewable resource in our country is the perpetual optimism of enterprising men and women.

It is quite uplifting and remarkable how optimistic our community is even when they're facing confronting and challenging business conditions and some hard numbers that might tell a different story.

Some 43 per cent of small businesses were not profitable in the last full tax year. Three-quarters of self-employed people, for whom their business is their full-time livelihood endeavour, take home less than average total weekly earnings. There's no rivers of gold for those people. They're working their tails off every day.

The narrative about how buoyant profitability is in the business economy is not the profit trajectory of the 70 per cent of small businesses who are unincorporated. If there is profit, it is 3 per cent a year, whereas for the larger corporates annual profit growth is at 13 per cent.

And our small business owners are getting older and having fewer succession options. The average age of a business owner is now 50, up from 45 in 2006. Only 8 per cent of our small business-owning fraternity are under the age of 30, half what it was in the 1970s.

We honour and celebrate the 42 per cent of private sector jobs made possible by the small and family business community. That is fantastic and small business continues to be the largest employer compared to large- and medium-sized enterprises. But in 2006 it was 53 per cent of private sector jobs coming from small business.

The vast majority - 94 per cent - of employing businesses are small. But does anyone believe the workplace relations system is designed for this vast majority?

And while we cheer that small businesses contributes one-third of GDP (32.4 per cent), that is actually the lowest proportion since that data series began in 2006 when small businesses were contributing 41 per cent of the economy.

Small businesses are working extremely hard but the subterranean shift is Australia is becoming a big corporate economy. This transformation is happening before our eyes. And I would suggest we need to do more to try and bring about a change if we believe, as I do, small and family businesses will be the drivers of innovation and our best prospects for improving incomes and living standards.

Those underlying numbers point to a different story. Advantage being gained by large, already advantaged, well-resourced businesses.

How do we encourage the next generation of small business owners? How do we take the inspiration, support the perspiration that's part of it, and drive the innovation people keep talking about with the new productivity initiative. Something that will do better than what we're doing right now? We need to shift the conversation.

For example, where are the deregulation targets? Where is the agenda that says we need right-size regulation, risk-informed, proportionate, relevant and able to be competently implemented by a party of good will?

You don't hear a word about targets for reducing compliance costs. And why are some of the worst offenders other businesses? We call it white tape. You want to become a supplier to a major supermarket chain, you have to jump through a mountain of hoops. Does that improve the return? No. It's a right to play!

Why don't we have Regulatory Impact Statements that have to have a small business impact and implications area in them? Cabinet submissions talk about regional implications. Where's the small business implication so that those considerations are front-of-mind and bright on the radar screen every time governments make a decision?

Where is the criteria that talks about how responsive and engaging a regulator is with the small and family businesses they are regulating? If regulators and impositions get too heavy who can open that door to that opportunity? It won't be a small, less well-resourced businesses. It will be a big business already advantaged with another avenue to exercise that advantage.

Departments and agencies boast about the resources available for small businesses and the ATO has done a great chart just on government supports. But it looked like Noodle Nation. You need to be a genius to navigate it and to find 'actionable information' about your area of concern or interest. What's a time-poor small business to do?

Take digitisation, which is a really crucial challenge but also an enormous opportunity that will help the business of running the business, as well as finding new markets and new ways to delight customers. How can we join up all the various programs to make it easier for small business to embrace those opportunities?

We celebrate arts and sport. Why not create a Prime Minister's �Թ�� Awards to draw attention to how valued small business people are?

It's time to energise enterprise.

TRANSCRIPT: COSBOA Summit, energising enterprise

Emily Carter — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 03:11:50 +0000

TRANSCRIPT: COSBOA Summit, energising enterprise Emily Carter Fri, 04/05/2024 - 14:11

04 April 2024

TRANSCRIPT

Australian �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson interview with Deb Knight.

Money News

Subjects: COSBOA Summit, energising enterprise

Deb Knight

Bruce Billson is a former federal minister for small business and now the �Թ�� and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, and he was involved in the COSBOA summit. He even facilitated one of the sessions and he joins me now. Bruce, welcome back to Money News.

Bruce Billson

Deb, great to be with you and your enterprising audience.

Deb Knight

Yes, they are indeed. Well, a lot of them are small business owners, too. And I know that this summit is held every year by COSBOA, but these would have to be some of the most challenging times wouldn’t they for small businesses in this country?

Bruce Billson

Yeah, they are challenging times but one of the things I marvel at though is some of the leading indicators still point to the optimism of enterprising men and women. I think positivity amongst small business men and women is the greatest renewable resource in our country. But they do also report challenging times, input costs pressures. The reduction of discretionary expenditure through interest rate increases and the like is really hitting hard on some businesses and they're working hard to try and stay in the black.

Deb Knight

Well, it's hard to keep that momentum and that optimism going when you do have the headwinds that keep on coming.

Bruce Billson

I think some of that optimism is despite hard evidence suggesting it is tough at the moment. We've seen insolvencies up. We know some of the practices during COVID that saw lenders and the Tax Office go a little bit softer on people that owed money is shifting. It’s into a more regularised arrangement so we're seeing more activity on those fronts.

We're still seeing a lot of businesses just finding it hard to get paid. So, they provide the goods and services that were asked of them, they've incurred the cost and they've deployed their teams to do it and they are just wanting to be paid. So that's another consideration. And I suppose the other thing is the compliance regimes that are around are getting more demanding. More is expected of small business owning men and women. It's a big responsibility owning your own business. But some of the changes in the regulatory space can be pretty hard to navigate if you're a small operation without a specialist HR department or compliance team that a big a corporate might have.

Deb Knight

Which brings us to the government because you did have some heavy hitters in attendance at the summit. Some big-name speakers, including the Prime Minister. Does Anthony Albanese and his government have a full understanding of the challenges that small businesses are facing, do you think?

Bruce Billson

I don't think you can help but be respectful of the connectedness that the Prime Minister spoke with. He seemed to really understand the small businesses, particularly in his own electorate, and that that gives him a lens. That was encouraging.

Deb Knight

I guess it's encouraging that the PM's even there speaking about business because for a Labor government, it’s about workers and upping their wages, isn't it?

Bruce Billson

Look, I think it was an important sign that he was present because I think at times a lot of the broader political debate – and you’ve touched on some around wage rates and the like - I think small businesses, particularly those employing people, might have thought why are they not talking about my circumstances. So, I think it was important that the Prime Minister was there and he spoke about what he'd seen and what he gleaned through his own working life and in his own electorate. I think that was reassuring.

I think there was a good discussion over the two days about more things that could be done. So, you know, there's still pressures in the economy that small businesses are looking for pathways through. And it was good to see the Prime Minister touch on some of those as well. But also the Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, who spoke very, very passionately about his own small business journey and I think the audience really responded to that.

We had some of the crossbenchers in town as well, Deb. They were really talking about their engagement and their own journey. The ‘I see you’ message was strongly throughout the presentations from our political leaders. I know from the discussion that people are looking for more specific, direct action on a range of fronts where they really got pain points and pitch points.

Deb Knight

And the prime minister did indicate when he did speak at the summit that energy bill relief for households and businesses will be one of the things extended as part of the May budget. Is that something that will make a big difference?

Bruce Billson

Look, I think it will. And I think he also pointed to the number of small businesses that have taken up incentives around solar photovoltaic systems and batteries, and that can be another measure.

It's important to realise the other steps about reducing the bills themselves, you and your listeners would know many small businesses don't occupy their own premises. They occupy someone else’s. So, when talking about an investment in a photovoltaic system and batteries, well, that's something the landlord might be interested in. The tenant is saying, hey, can you help out here? I hate to use the jargon, the split incentives is how the policy makers describe it. The asset owner is different from the business as the occupier, and that can present some challenges. So, I think that was reassuring. And it's one of a number of pain points. You mentioned shifts in labour rates that's always having an impact and a concern.

Insurances Deb, oh my goodness. I mean, the difficulty too many small businesses are having accessing the insurance they need and then the eye watering price increase.

Deb Knight

Well households too, it’s across the board, isn't it?

Bruce Billson

It is. And that's something I keep reminding the insurance industry about. They're regularly talking about households. And that's right. But, you know, consumers sometimes make choices. I would say courageous choices but understandable choices if the budgets are tight to maybe under-insure or not insurer at all or self-insure. Deb, you and I know, and your listeners would know, for many businesses, you don't have that choice. If you don't have certain essential insurances, you can't engage in trade and commerce. When they’re talking about multiples of premium increases, again, that's a that's a hit to the bottom line when margins are very tight.

Deb Knight

What about wages? Because we know that the wages umpire will be making a decision shortly. We've got the claims coming in from the unions and from businesses. How much do you think small businesses can cope when it comes to setting the limit for wage rises?

Bruce Billson

Look, I don't think there's a single answer to that, Deb. I mean, the regulator, the Fair Work Commission, will make the decision around wages. But the story is very different depending on what part of the economy you're operating in. We've seen just through insolvency rates, the hospitality sector are finding it really hard and extra price pressures are going to be, for some, just too much.

In the construction area, again, where there's pressure points, small businesses are having to pay way over the odds in terms of award rates to attract staff. So, they're already well in advance of those wage determinations. But that will land differently. And it will be in another area that a business owner who, is the last to be paid, needs to navigate in these economic times.

Deb Knight

There was an interesting address from the RBA Assistant Governor Brad Jones, who said small and medium businesses are driving a lot of the innovation that's needed to boost productivity, which we know isn't at the levels it should be. And they're spending a quarter, 25% more on R&D than the larger businesses are. The RBA, though, critical of the banks for not lending to entrepreneurs, not taking risks? How much is that holding the country back?

Bruce Billson

Look, access to finance for enterprising men and women continues to be a challenge. I mean, too often the conversation is show us your collateral debt. You haven't got a house to underpin it - and it's 50% of all small business lending is underpinned by someone's private home. So, you can see how invested business owners are not only for the roof over their head but their own enterprise. In many cases, their identity is interwoven into their business.

But it also points to a bigger trend. It wasn't so long ago the third of the economy that's made possible by small business was much higher than that. About 41% of GDP was generated by small business back in 2006.

And you think about that narrative, which I think is true, how innovative and what a driver of wealth creation and opportunity small business can be. Now we’re seeing the bigger end of town tending to grow fast, to be more profitable, maybe better placed to navigate the complex regulatory environment than small businesses. And my call out was, well, let's not just try and reduce the headwinds that small businesses face. How about we all get together to put some wind in the sails of enterprising men and women and really give the best prospects. Let’s energise enterprise to make sure that full potential can be met.

Deb Knight

It’s such an engine room of the economy. We want to make sure that they can fire on all cylinders.

Bruce Billson

And let’s not take a cylinder out either. You look at some of those numbers about share of private sector employment, the profit trajectory. Even the aging profile. The average age of a small business owner now is 50. And there's only 8% of business owners that are under the age of 30. It was nearly twice that in the ‘70s.

So, something is happening. I think it's all about getting that risk and reward balance right, making small business and entrepreneurship a really attractive option for people, then creating a supportive ecosystem to give them the best chance to be successful.

Deb Knight

You bet. We need them to be successful for all of our benefit. Bruce, always great to talk. Thank you so much.

Bruce Billson

Thanks, Deb. And best wishes to your enterprising listeners.

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TRANSCRIPT: Creating a �Թ��� and Codes List for the Federal Circuit Court

TRANSCRIPT

TRANSCRIPT: Energising enterprise, celebrating small and family businesses, right-sized regulation, seafood industry labelling, procurement

TRANSCRIPT

It's time to celebrate Australia's small businesses

TRANSCRIPT: COSBOA Summit, energising enterprise

TRANSCRIPT

TRANSCRIPT: Creating a �Թ�� and Codes List for the Federal Circuit Court