Business

NSW Budget to boost women in small business

Women in small business will have access to free TAFE courses and professional advice thanks to $15 million over the next four years in the 202223 NSW Budget.

Treasurer Matt Kean said more than 95 per cent of businesses in NSW were small businesses, however only a third of these businesses are run by women.

“Many people dream of owning their own business, however we know that cultural and structural barriers like access to professional networks and capital can hold women back from taking the leap,” Mr Kean said.

“The NSW Budget is focused on giving women more opportunities for their future. That’s why we’re investing $15 million to help women translate their business ideas into reality.”

The 2022-23 NSW Budget will invest in the following programs over four years: • $3.5 million to provide fee-free TAFE NSW Women in Business courses • $2 million in grants to industry associations and chambers of commerce to run professional networking programs for women in small business • $5 million to expand the Business Connect program to provide dedicated services to women-led small business • $4.5 million for the Service NSW for Business program to provide targeted support for women-led small businesses.

Minister for Women Bronnie Taylor said this investment is another fantastic example of the NSW Government supporting women-led small businesses.

“From Ballina to Braidwood and everywhere in between, this package empowers women to start and grow their businesses, because we know when women succeed, NSW succeeds,” Mrs Taylor said.

Minister for Skills and Training Alister fee-free TAFE courses will give women in small business access to a wide range of online learning topics and webinars, which can be studied anywhere, any time.

“The Women in Business TAFE program will provide women in every corner of NSW with access to fee-free online training on how to start or build a said.

“More than 15,000 women have already benefited from the program, and this investment will help support a pipeline of female-led start-ups to boost their budget and grow the economy.”

Minister for Small Business Eleni Petinos said the Business Connect program will be expanded to provide dedicated services to women-led small businesses.

“Since 2017, Business Connect has already helped more than 44,000 small businesses by providing them with personalised and tailored support to help them to start, adapt and grow their operations,” Ms Petinos said.

“We’re expanding this program by providing a further $5 million over the next four years to women-led small businesses to upskill these leaders with the tools they want, whether it be marketing, social media, business planning, and digital literacy.”

Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Victor Dominello said the Service NSW for Business program will provide targeted support for women-led small businesses.

“The Budget is expanding the Service for Business program to provide further funding to female-run small businesses to make their business journey easier. This includes access to our Business Concierges, and Business Profile Digital Platform,” Mr Dominello said.

Jobs booms with record participation rate

Employment in NSW grew by 61,900 fulltime jobs in May and the participation rate increased to a record high of 66.2 per cent according to the latest data from the ABS.

Employment across the State is now 133,000 above the pre-COVID level and more than 90,000 above the preDelta peak.

Treasurer Matt Kean said today’s results were very positive for the State with the participation rate jumping by 1 percentage point, now sitting 0.9 percentage points above pre-COVID levels (Feb 2020).

“Employment growth is booming in NSW and we’re seeing record participation rates, well above pre-pandemic levels, and this is no response to the pandemic helped families and businesses across the State with more than $47 billion in support since March 2020,” Mr Kean said.

“Our record participation in the NSW workforce is being driven by the continuing rise in female participation which is now at record levels.”

The female participation rate hit a record 61.9 per cent, well above the pre-COVID level of 60.2 per cent. The male participation rate rose by a strong 1.2 percentage points to 70.7 per cent, also above the pre-COVID levels.

The number of hours worked rose by 2.2 per cent in May, despite continued Omicronrelated illness and an worked is now 2.7 per cent above December 2021 levels.

The large jump in participation meant that the unemployment rate rose 0.5 percentage points to 4.0 per cent in May, up from last month’s record low.

“The unemployment rate in NSW remains low and the number of hours people are working has seen a strong increase as we continue to recover from the impacts of the pandemic,” Mr Kean said.

“Month-on-month we’re reaping the Government’s strong economic management throughout the challenges of the pandemic and our recovery.”