Cathy Hummel, representing the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, provided an update about government initiatives and developments impacting on small businesses, as follows.
Small Business Dispute Resolution
In May 2011, the Minister for Small Business released an options paper for public comment on a national service to help the resolution of small business disputes.
On 22 September 2011 the summary report of submissions responding to the Resolution of Small Business Disputes Option Paper was released. Feedback indicates priorities are to increase small business awareness of existing disputes resolution services and to collaborate between jurisdiction to promote a consistent, harmonised and coordinated approach.
The summary report and submissions are available at: www.innovation.gov.au/disputes
Franchising Mediation
In July 2011 a new free early intervention dispute resolution service became available to businesses operating under the Franchising Code of Conduct, delivered through the Office of the Franchising Mediation Adviser. Parties to a franchising dispute that meet certain small scale dispute criteria may also be eligible for formal mediation services at a reduced fee.
Further information is available at www.franchisingmediationadviser.com.au
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) guidelines on carbon pricing
Guidelines for businesses making claims about the impact of the carbon price have been released by the ACCC on 14 November 2011. The Carbon price claims - Guide for business provides information for businesses to refer to when they seek to make claims about the impact of the price on carbon on the price of their goods and services.
Research and development tax incentive
This incentive applies to research and development activities commencing on or after
1 July 2011 and is designed to encourage companies of all sizes to undertake increased levels of research and development activities.
Small and medium enterprises (ie turnover of less than $20 million) will receive a 45% refundable tax offset, while larger firms will receive a 40% non-refundable tax offset and can carry forward any unused offset amounts to reduce future tax liabilities.
The Government will introduce quarterly credits for small and medium enterprises from 1 January 2014.
AusIndustry and the ATO recently conducted information sessions and have also published information on their websites.
AusIndustry has released an R&D Tax Incentive - Discussion Paper seeking feedback from industry on issues of relevance to the implementation of the new program. Submissions close on 22 December 2011.
Release of Book Industry Strategy Group Report
The Book Industry Strategy Group Report was released recently and included 21 recommendations which will be considered by the Government.
Small Business Support Line
The Small Business Support Line (SBSL) provides a 'one-stop-shop' service to help small business operators get advice. In October 2011 the service achieved the milestone of 41,000 calls from small businesses around Australia.
It is open between 8am to 8pm Australian Eastern Standard Time on weekdays and can be accessed by phoning 1800 777 275 or emailing sbsl@innovation.gov.au.
At the last meeting concerns were raised about the opening hours. Currently the SBSL budget would not allow extension of the time that operators are available. However an additional question on the level of satisfaction with the opening hours of the SBSL has been added to the survey of callers, which will obtain more data on this issue.
Members also provided feedback about the difficulties for some businesses in contacting the Line during business hours, due to the potential for losing customers as a result of tying up the business phone. Members were advised that the Line has a Live Chat service as an alternative contact channel which offers the option of returning to the enquiry if there is an interruption while "chatting".
Small Business Advisory Service
The Government is investing $48.25million to enhance small business advisory services through the Small Business Advisory Services (SBAS) program. The SBAS program is funding a number of Business Enterprise Centres; funding is aimed at expanding and strengthening their capacity to provide low cost advisory services to small businesses.
To date over 160,000 small businesses have been assisted and over 300,000 services have been delivered under the program.
Emergency management and recovery Resources Package
An Emergency management and recovery resources package was recently launched to help small businesses deal with emergencies. It can be accessed at www.business.gov.au/emergency. The package is not intended to replace information provided by specialist emergency management agencies such as the State Emergency services or the Disaster Assist website.
A key feature of the package is a template with an instruction guide that businesses can use to create their own Emergency Management and Recovery plan. The template is also available as an iPad application.
Business Names Legislation
A national Business Names Register will replace registers currently operated by States and Territories, and is on track to commence in mid 2012. Once the national system is operating, businesses will pay only one fee and have a single process for registering their business name nationally.
In October 2011, the Australian Parliament passed the Commonwealth's legislation to establish the National Business Names System. As the national system relies on a referral of state powers, each State must also pass legislation to refer their powers. Three States (Tasmania, Queensland and New South Wales) have already enacted their legislation; Victoria's legislation has been introduced into the Parliament, and South Australia and Western Australia are hoping to introduce their legislation before the end of the 2011 sitting year.
Meeting discussion
- In relation to the Live Chat component of the Small Business Support Line, feedback was provided that the service was sometimes unavailable.
Sections within Agenda items
Last Modified: Friday, 24 February 2012