Small Business Spotlight

Consult Australia welcomes the Federal government’s confirmation that it will proceed with reforms to the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) previously agreed by state and territory ministers. As a reminder, to strengthen unfair contract terms protections, there will be new civil penalty provisions relating to the use of, and reliance on, unfair terms in standard form contracts. The reforms will also increase coverage of more small businesses by capturing businesses with less than 100 employees (rather than less than 20 employees as is currently the case) and introducing an alternative threshold of having an annual turnover threshold of less than $10 million.

We continue to strengthen our relationships with the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBEFEO) as well as local Small Business Commissioners across the country. Many thanks to Brad Harris of Porter Consulting Engineers who represented us at a recent forum held by ASBEFEO with the WA Small Business Development Commissioner. The Consult Australia team continues talking with local commissioners, including in NSW, Vic and Qld to get assistance on our advocacy for Model Client behaviours and against unnecessary and problematic contract terms, to alleviate the pressures on professional indemnity insurance.

We contributed to the NSW Department of Customer Service’s consultation on the NSW Small Business Strategy. We highlighted the importance of considering market conditions during regulatory development, such as the availability and affordability of professional indemnity insurance. We underlined the importance of streamlining and standardising digital processes, terminology, and standards, as well as making use of opportunities to apply productivity learnings across different projects. Read the full submission here.

The best way to get value from your membership is to engage with Consult Australia, be it through the small business open forums, events and education, 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:

- Porter Consulting Engineers

- GBA Consulting Engineers

- Peter J Ramsay & Associates

- Carlow & Carlow

- Turnbull