Small Business Spotlight

Budget Wins for Small Business

Please see our Budget Summary for Members, here are some of the wins for small business we noted from the Federal Budget:

1) Consult Australia is vocal about unreasonable insurance and liability provisions as a barrier to small business participation in government procurement. In response, it was announced that:

» direct procurement will be allowed from small and medium businesses for contracts up to $200,000

» agencies will be required to limit pre-contract insurance and liability requirements, to avoid unreasonable or disproportionate risk transfer

» officials will need to consider breaking larger projects into smaller works packages

» the government’s pay on-time commitment will be extended to all suppliers, regardless of contract value

» the Department of Defence will be authorised to undertake limited tenders with small and medium businesses for procurements up to $500,000

2) Small business support announced in the Budget including funding to:

» enhance small business financial capability through the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman

» support the New Access for Small Business Owners Program delivered by Beyond Blue to provide free, accessible and tailored mental health support

» extend the Small Business Debt Helpline to provide financial counselling to small businesses facing financial issues

» establish a dedicated unit in the Fair Work Commission to support small businesses

Be engaged, get value!

The best way to get value from your membership is to engage with Consult Australia, be it through events and education, by responding to calls for input or just contacting your State/Territory Manager to vent about current business frustrations. •

Here are some of the small business members making their membership (and the Consult Australia team) work for them:

- Voss Grace + Partners Consulting Fire Engineers

- Engineering Fitness

- Tesseract International