| Date | Title | Description |
| Sign up to see | Sign up to see | Sign up to see |
| Oct 17, 2024 | Victorian woman jailed over $600,000 in GST refunds for “fake” cleaning business | A stock image showing a woman carrying basket of cleaning supplies. Source: Moodboard article-article-body
A Victorian woman has been sentenced to four years behind bars after claiming almost $600,000 in dodgy GST refunds, and attempting to... |
| Oct 15, 2024 | The Talent Tug-of-War: Navigating Australia’s Workforce Challenges | Australia's job market is a battlefield. Employers are grappling with a severe talent shortage. The latest report from Jobs and Skills Australia lays bare the stark reality: 303 occupations are struggling to find workers. The top 20 list re... |
| Oct 14, 2024 | Baseline flexibility won’t futureproof tech businesses from fierce competition for talent | From Amazon to the NSW state government, many local and global organisations are introducing mandates for employees to return to the office. While these attention-grabbing headlines are resurfacing heated debates about whether employees sho... |
| Oct 4, 2024 | Eight ANZ startups that raised at least $66.3 million this week | Enrola co-founders Jo Thomas and Yvette Quinby. Source: AfterWork Ventures article-article-body
Australian and Kiwi startups in fields as diverse as cell therapy, wastewater treatment, and local government software raised at least $66.3 mil... |
| Oct 3, 2024 | How embracing new technology in emergency communications centres improves public safety | It's been a tumultuous few years for Australia's emergency service contact centres. The pandemic presented a range of new operational challenges while call volumes spiked dramatically.
A few years later, hopes that volumes would normalise t... |
| Sep 27, 2024 | $610 million for ANZ startups in the September quarter as AI investments grow | L-R: James Harris (HammerTech co-founder and CTO), Eric Ma (Principal at Riverwood Capital) and Ben Leach (HammerTech co-founder and CEO). Source: Supplied. article-article-body
Australian and New Zealand enterprises raised $610 million in ... |
| Aug 16, 2024 | Neural Notes: Competition is good, contradiction is not in the race for global AI standards | Aurelie Jacquet. Source: SmartCompany via Standards Australia. article-article-body
Welcome back to Neural Notes, a weekly column where I look at some of the most interesting AI news of the week. In this edition, I chat with Aurélie Jacquet... |
| Aug 13, 2024 | What we know so far about Labor’s Trust Exchange initiative | Minister for Government Services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill Shorten. Source: AAP Image/Jane Dempster, Adobe Stock. article-article-body
Minister for Government Services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bil... |
| Aug 8, 2024 | “Flame of ambition”: Ombudsman proposes Prime Minister’s awards for small business in 14-point plan | The Ombudsman, Bruce Billson. Source: Supplied. article-article-body
Would small business awards handed down by the Prime Minister, or formal accreditation for those who pay suppliers on time, help to re-energise the SME sector?
Australian ... |
| Aug 7, 2024 | The 2023-2024 tax season, by the numbers | Source: SmartCompany article-article-body
Everything about tax time comes down to the numbers, but some are a little more abstract than others. Here, we collate a handful of the key figures related to personal and business tax returns, and ... |
| Jul 11, 2024 | E-waste recycler Sircel raises $5 million to help pioneer new options for obsolete solar panels | Sircel CEO Anthony Karam. Source: Supplied article-article-body
Australian e-waste recycling venture Sircel has secured a $5 million investment from Kilara Capital, helping it retrieve precious materials from discarded technology and tackle... |
| Jul 8, 2024 | Industrial laundry powerhouse Consolidated Linen Service irons out $6 million investment deal | L-R: Tom Roberts (Group General Manager, CLS), Neville Roberts (Founder, CLS) and Adam Roberts (Managing Director, CLS). Source: Supplied. article-article-body
The industrial laundry business is more than a bit of froth. Just ask Consolidat... |
| Jun 26, 2024 | NSW to overhaul licences for used-car dealers, beekeepers, boaties and more | Source: AAP Image/ James Ross article-article-body
Kickboxers, second-hand car dealers, beekeepers and boaties are all about to enter the age of digital regulation after the Minns government revealed it will plough $62.5 million into a new ... |
| Jun 21, 2024 | A third of Australian businesses spend nothing on innovation: ABS data | Source: Adobe Stock article-article-body
Australian business innovation has dropped six percentage points compared to the last recorded measure, according to new data from 2021-23 released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Econo... |
| Jun 18, 2024 | New procurement rules to give SMEs better access to $70 billion in government contracts | Minister for Women, Finance and the Public Service Katy Gallagher. Source: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas article-article-body
Finance and Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher is preparing to ring in the new financial year with a fresh crackdown o... |
| May 20, 2024 | Small business ombudsman ‘disappointed’ with government’s procurement report response | Bruce Billson. Source: SmallBizWeek article-article-body
Small business and government are both getting a raw deal on procurement because of systematic risk aversion, according to a new report.
The final report from Australian Small Busines... |
| May 17, 2024 | Digital ID laws finally pass Australian parliament | Source: Adobe Stock article-article-body
After a long battle, Digital ID laws have finally passed the Australian parliament. This move aims to dampen the oversharing of personal information in order to enhance privacy protections in a lands... |
| Mar 26, 2024 | Small businesses should get more of the $70 billion procurement pie: Pocock | Independent Senator David Pocock. Source: AAP Image/ Mick Tsikas article-article-body
Growing Australian companies should be given a fair shot at winning government procurement contracts rather than work simply being doled out to multinatio... |
| Mar 19, 2024 | Labor’s ‘Working for Women’ strategy to involve more women in decision-making | Minister for Women, Finance and the Public Service Katy Gallagher. Source: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas article-article-body
A new five-year action plan under Labor’s national ‘Working for Women’ strategy offers a whole-of-government roadmap for g... |
| Mar 13, 2024 | ATO goes after $29.8 million owed by tax advisers | Source: Adobe Stock article-article-body
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is pursuing tax advisers for high-worth clients as part of a campaign to clean up tardy lodgement practices.
ATO officers have identified $29.8 million in liabili... |
| Mar 11, 2024 | Queensland launches inquiry into big four supermarkets over “outrageous prices” | Source: Adobe Stock article-article-body
The Queensland government has appointed a supermarket pricing select committee to examine why climbing prices for fresh produce do not correlate with agricultural industry profits and whether consume... |
| Mar 6, 2024 | “Pretty poor record”: Former Aus Post boss highlights supply chain issues affecting trade | Former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate. Source: AAP Image/ Mick Tsikas. article-article-body
Boosting trade and investment with Southeast Asia has been a key topic of conversation at the ASEAN special summit, but some members of the lo... |
| Feb 29, 2024 | ‘Business blindspot’: Rapid adoption of AI poses privacy and security risks | An AI-generated image. Source: SmartCompany article-article-body
Cybersecurity experts have warned that the race to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in the corporate world is “fraught with moral and technical issues”.
A paper by... |
| Feb 27, 2024 | Construction industry’s 31.8% gender pay gap highlights “urgent need to change” | New housing construction is seen at Schofields, north west of Sydney, Thursday, November 10, 2022. Source: AAP Image/ Bianca De Marchi article-article-body
The gender imbalance in Australia’s construction sector shows an “urgent need to cha... |
| Feb 21, 2024 | Cash no longer king? Aus Post, ACCC, RBA feel the squeeze | Source: Canva article-article-body
The Reserve Bank of Australia prints pallets of the stuff, Australia Post is flying it to the furthest parts of the country at huge expense, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is report... |
| Feb 12, 2024 | GST fraudster imprisoned after attempted $15 million construction scheme | article-article-body
A construction developer has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars for attempting tax fraud valued at $15 million, in what the Australian Taxation Office calls the end to one of its longest fraud investigations.
Hightr... |
| Feb 5, 2024 | Smaller online booze retailers battle Digital ID cost hangover | Source: Adobe Stock article-article-body
The peak body for Australia’s $120 billion retail liquor industry has warned the federal government that smaller independent online merchants are being priced out of using digital identity to verify ... |
| Jan 25, 2024 | Can antitrust laws really protect consumers from Big Tech’s dominance? | Source: Adobe Stock article-article-body
Following a lengthy investigation, the United States Justice Department is set to file a lawsuit against Apple for potentially breaching antitrust laws.
The department alleges Apple is using hardware... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Six different ways AI could wow us in 2024 | Source: SmartCompany article-article-body
With 2024 rapidly approaching, 360info’s experts have singled out some of the major events the world of science and technology will witness in the new year.
Two letters dominated the tech world in 2... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Major increase in civil penalties on the table for rogue tax agents | Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones. Source: AAP Image/ Mick Tsikas article-article-body
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones has told accountants, lawyers and other professionals they have until January 21 to... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Why the ATO’s under-the-radar website overhaul is good for taxpayers | A screengrab from the ATO's new-look website. Source: Australian Taxation Office article-article-body
For everyday taxpayers used to the simple and efficient transactionality of the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) rugged but secure and c... |
| Dec 7, 2023 | CSIRO outlines Australia’s path to becoming an AI powerhouse | Source: Unsplash/ Amanda Dalbjorn article-article-body
Australia should become a global artificial intelligence leader if it plays to its strengths and turns its world-class AI research into commercial opportunities.
A CSIRO report has iden... |
| Oct 23, 2023 | Skills and trade boon: Australia and Indonesia ink pilot mobility deal | Source: Adobe Stock article-article-body
An expanded free trade agreement (FTA) between Australia and Indonesia will give more opportunities for businesses from both nations to lift their skills and expertise and make stronger intercultural... |
| Oct 23, 2023 | Proposed laws to do away with secrecy rights of rogue tax agents | Current laws don’t provide a way for regulators to give tax agents information that would enable them to investigate breach of ethics. Source: AAP Image/Lukas Coch article-article-body
Rogue tax agents won’t be able to depend on secrecy pro... |
| Oct 23, 2023 | Optus complaints rise by 30% as Telstra customers report fewer issues | Cynthia Gebert says overall complaints have decreased. (Image: ODM) article-article-body
Optus was the telecommunications provider with the greatest increase in complaints over the past year.
According to the Telecommunications Industry Omb... |
| Oct 23, 2023 | Julie Collins pledges to work with small business on data privacy, cyber security overhauls | Small Business Minister Julie Collins. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) article-article-body
The federal government will work with small businesses as they encounter significant data safety obligations for the first time, Minister for Small Business... |
| Oct 23, 2023 | ATO taskforce recovers billions from big business tax avoiders | ATO commissioner Chris Jordan. Source: AAP Image/ Mick Tsikas article-article-body
The Australian Taxation Office’s Tax Avoidance Taskforce helped generate an additional $7.6 billion in revenue during the 2022-23 financial year, according t... |
| Oct 23, 2023 | New law paves the way for digital statutory declarations | Source: Adobe Stock article-article-body
One of the last vestiges of centuries of paper and ink has finally fallen, after federal attorney-general Mark Dreyfus wrote into law the permanent ability to use digital execution, electronic signat... |
| Oct 17, 2023 | Is Collaboration The Key To Aussie Tech Challenges? | Traditionally, companies and government organisations have attacked the challenges presented by IT individually. This has made sense, given that organisations that are successful at doing so then have a competitive advantage over others.
Bu... |
| Jun 22, 2023 | Inaugural Attachés will Operationalise Australian First Nations Diplomacy | Australia has a great opportunity to boost its relationships with Southeast Asian and Pacific Islands countries with the implementation of a First Nations foreign policy doctrine. To ensure its success, the government must empower the diplo... |
| Jun 13, 2023 | The Australian AI governance debate starts to heat up | Image: stnazkul/Adobe Stock
A lack of properly defined artificial intelligence governance and policy is causing bipartisan concern in Australian politics, with both major parties recently speaking out about the need to move urgently on the ... |
| May 3, 2023 | Australia to reinstate standalone privacy commissioner | The government is set to reinstate a dedicated privacy commissioner, carving the responsibilities out of Australian information commissioner Angelene Falk’s current role.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said Falk would continue to act as priv... |
| Dec 14, 2022 | Omicron waves and a crypto crash: A look back at what derailed SmartCompany’s predictions for an unpredictable 2022 | Source:Charlie Deets/Unsplash.
Forget the crystal ball for a moment; let’s reflect. SmartCompany looks back at some 2022 predictions made one year ago. What did we get right, what did we get wrong, and what things played out a little differ... |
| Dec 14, 2022 | As business collapses rise, Parliamentary Committee scrutinises ATO’s role in 74% of cases | Senator Deborah O’Neill is chairing the Inquiry into Corporate Insolvency in Australia. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)
The primacy of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as Australia’s biggest creditor when it comes to corporate insolvencies is be... |
| Dec 8, 2022 | NSW will soon digitise high-risk work licences, says Victor Dominello | Victor Dominello. (AAP Image/Pool, David Swift)
New South Wales Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Victor Dominello has flagged high-risk work licences are being prepared for the state’s well-liked digitisation treatment, ... |
| Dec 5, 2022 | Melbourne puts lockdowns behind it as The Economist ranks it in the world’s top 10 most liveable cities | Melbourne, Victoria. Source: Adobe/Sean Heatley.
Victorians might have been in long lockdowns during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic over the past two years, but the Economist Intelligence Unit is giving them a good reason to smirk lik... |
| Dec 1, 2022 | Australia’s new free trade deal with India to come into effect from December 29 | Anthony Albanese with India’s prime minister Narendra Modi. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
Changes to domestic laws in India will mean a new free trade deal with Australia will come into effect by the end of next month.
The Australia-India Economi... |
| Nov 29, 2022 | ATO puts businesses on notice over data storage and scam threats | ATO Second Commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn at a Senate Estimates hearing in October 2020. Source: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas.
There’s nothing like a couple of days being interrogated by a royal commission to laser-focus the mind of a senior publi... |
| Nov 29, 2022 | Report reveals extent of real-time payments debacle as RBA apologises for outage | Source: AAP/Dan Himbrechts.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has lifted the lid on a crippling outage that halted transactions flowing through the New Payments Platform (NPP) in mid-October.
A report into the incident reveals hundreds of... |
| Nov 28, 2022 | New expert group established to advise government on transitioning to a circular economy | Dr Cathy Foley, Australia's Chief Scientist. Source: supplied.
A new expert group will help advise the government on transitioning the nation to a circular economy by 2030. It will consider products across all sectors that are designed and ... |
| Nov 25, 2022 | RBA says inflation will peak at 8% by the end of 2022 | Reserve Bank governor Phillip Lowe. Source: AAP/Joel Carrett.
Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has this week reinforced the bank’s expectation that inflation will peak at about 8% by the end of 2022 and hover above 3% in two years.
Lowe to... |
| Nov 23, 2022 | Joint federal-NSW government flood assistance grants of $50,000 now available for small businesses | NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. Source: AAP/Dan Himbrechts.
A flood-assistance package has been agreed upon between the federal and New South Wales governments to assist businesses and not-for-profit organisations in dealing with the impact ... |
| Nov 18, 2022 | ASD issues urgent cyber self-hygiene check to small businesses | ASD director-general Rachel Noble. (AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi)
The Australian Signals Directorate has issued an urgent cyber self-hygiene check to local small businesses on the back of recent attacks on major corporates to take stock of th... |
| Nov 17, 2022 | Belkin CEO Steve Malony on the future of distance wireless charging at work and in transit | Wireless charging functionality has become the norm for high-end phones from the likes of Apple and Samsung. The next step in that evolution is ‘over-air’ or distance wireless charging. According to Belkin’s CEO, Steven Malony, it fits perf... |
| Nov 4, 2022 | Crypto crackdowns, investment scams and greenwashing targets at ASIC’s Annual Forum | Australian Securities and Investments Commission ASIC Chair Joe Longo. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission revealed its priorities for the next year at its Annual Forum in Sydney this week, with susp... |
| Nov 4, 2022 | ATO to enforce transparency on multinationals bidding for government work | Federal MP Andrew Leigh. Source: AAP.
Multinational giants hiding behind paper-thin local subsidiaries to shield revenue and profits sent offshore to bypass the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will soon need to show their hand when bidding... |
| Nov 2, 2022 | Procurement from First Nations businesses in Queensland grew $118 million last financial year | Queensland Employment and Small Business Minister Di Farmer. Source: AAP/Dan Peled.
New data about goods and services provided to the state government has revealed Queensland’s procurement from First Nations-owned businesses went up 36% in ... |
| Nov 2, 2022 | Tax watchdog records drop in complaints, but 65 agents still deregistered | Almost 1300 complaints and referrals were assessed by the Tax Practitioners Board during the 2021-22 financial year, with 143 of these cases making it through to a conduct committee for further consideration.
The TPB registers, investigates... |
| Nov 1, 2022 | RBA frustrated with banks over slow PayTo adoption | The Reserve Bank of Australia’s powerful Payment Systems Board has expressed frustration with local banks over their slowness to turn on the new payments platform (NPP), again cajoling the sector into doing more with a platform that was rec... |
| Oct 24, 2022 | ATO spends $3.2 million to push director ID registrations as deadline approaches | Australian Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones speaks to the media during a doorstop interview at Parliament House in Canberra, Wednesday, July 27, 2022. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)
The Australian Taxation Office will launch a $3.2 million publici... |
| Oct 21, 2022 | Cyberattacks a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ as experts say Australian business has always been a target | The last four weeks have seen a string of high-profile data breaches and hacks. Attacks on Optus, Medibank, Woolworths, Vinomofo and more have resulted in the personal details of millions of Australians being threatened, exposed and in some... |
| Oct 20, 2022 | Andrew Leigh: By ensuring multinationals pay their fair share of tax, we can invest in Australia’s future | Federal MP Andrew Leigh. Source: AAP.
Pharmaceutical company AbbVie makes the world’s best-selling arthritis medication. It also specialises in causing pain for tax administrators. In 2020, the Chicago-headquartered company made 75% of its ... |
| Oct 12, 2022 | Why crypto regulation will benefit the whole industry, not stifle its innovation | Block Earner co-founder and CEO Charlie Karaboga. Source: supplied
Without a doubt, we’re at the forefront of a global paradigm shift as we move towards a future backed by blockchain. Although cryptocurrencies have been around for more than... |
| Oct 12, 2022 | OAIC and ACMA investigate Optus breach, putting telco in line to pay billions in compensation | Source: Bianca De Marchi / AAP Image
One of Australia’s leading technology and regulation lawyers says besieged carrier Optus is likely to feel more financial pain from being forced to compensate data breach victims than from fines availabl... |
| Oct 11, 2022 | Employment, work hours and wage rate driving a “motherhood penalty” for women, says Treasury | Source: Unsplash/Standsome Worklifestyle.
Flexible working arrangements may be one way Australia increases the likelihood of women staying in the paid workforce after having children, a new paper looking at children and the gender earnings ... |
| Oct 4, 2022 | Consumer Data Right review calls for ‘screen scraper’ ban, potentially making some fintechs unviable | The average Australian checks their phone 85 times a day. Source: Unsplash/Nasik Lababan.
The highly anticipated statutory review of the Consumer Data Right, better known as Open Banking reforms, has called for a ban on the use of screen sc... |
| Sep 28, 2022 | Optus offers data victims a free subscription to Equifax — an identity protection service that’s previously been hacked | Source: Unsplash/Jefferson Santos.
In the aftermath of possibly Australia’s biggest data breach, Optus offered customers “most affected” a free subscription to an identity-protection service, provided by credit-monitoring company Equifax Pr... |
| Sep 21, 2022 | Services Australia to scale up neurodiversity hiring program | Services Australia is set for a major expansion of its neurodiversity recruitment program with up to 70 new IT and digital roles to be offered, more than double the number of hires made over the program’s entirety.
The Aurora neurodiversity... |
| Sep 19, 2022 | RBA changes mind, says Least Cost Routing can now happen on mobile wallets like Apple Pay | The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has substantively shifted its position on how banks and credit card schemes prioritise their products in mobile wallet Apple Pay. The decision means shopkeepers will have a basic choice in what cards they... |
| Sep 16, 2022 | New ATO small business chief offers olive branch to SMEs after leading raids on suspected GST fraudsters | The Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO’s) new small business chief has urged those with unpaid debts to come forward and ask for help, offering a gentle touch just months after leading raids on 19 people suspected of GST fraud.
The ATO websi... |
| Sep 15, 2022 | “Give me an example”: ATO chief Chris Jordan says clients need to be specific when making tax complaints | You could call it ‘problematic specificity’. The head of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Chris Jordan, has warned customers that if they can’t point to a particular process or problem when whinging about their tax experience, well, it... |
| Sep 14, 2022 | ATO plans to be fully digital by 2030, tax commissioner reveals | ATO commissioner of taxation Chris Jordan. Source: AAP/Lukas Coch.
The annual conference of one of the world’s most prominent accounting software vendors, Xero, was used by tax commissioner Chris Jordan to partially unveil the Australian Ta... |
| Sep 12, 2022 | WA records 28% increase in interstate visitor numbers and 12% increase in visitor spend | The view down St Georges Terrace in Perth, Western Australia. Source: Unsplash/Nathan Hurst.
Perth has boasted the biggest visitor growth of any capital city in the latest data from Tourism Research Australia, as the Western Australian gove... |
| Sep 9, 2022 | Big Aussie banks side with Google, Facebook and Amazon against data localisation rules | Australia’s big banks have heavily backed in US technology giants Google, Facebook and Amazon to oppose any prospect of forcing them to house Australian customer data onshore, despite growing safety concerns among security agencies, regulat... |
| Sep 7, 2022 | Home Affairs Minister calls for cybersecurity migration visas | Home affairs minister Clare O’Neil. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
Australia needs to establish a migration sponsorship program in the area of cybersecurity so the country builds its capacity to defend itself from state-based and other players tha... |
| Sep 6, 2022 | ASIC lays criminal charges against accounting firm for failing to comply with audit standards | Source: Unsplash/Scott Graham
Australia’s corporate regulator has pressed criminal charges against an accounting firm and one of its former team members for failing to conduct an audit of a listed company in accordance with audit standards.... |
| Aug 23, 2022 | National Skills Week: TAFE gets $900 million as government looks to build VET sector | Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O’Connor. Source: AAP Image/James Ross.
National Skills Week has launched ahead of next week’s government’s jobs and skills summit.
As part of the week, the federal government has allocated $850 mill... |
| Aug 16, 2022 | Google ordered to pay $60 million after ACCC takes action over consumer data collection | ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb. Source: AAP/Bianca De Marchi.
Following action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Google has been ordered to pay $60 million by the Federal Court for misleading representations about... |
| Jul 22, 2022 | ACCC reveals three-pronged plan to make Australia one of the most challenging scam targets in the world | ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb. Source: AAP/Bianca De Marchi.
ACCC boss Gina Cass-Gottlieb has outlined her favoured approach for reducing the cost that scammers put upon Australians, with a focus on better collaboration between government, ... |
| Jul 21, 2022 | “Incredibly disappointing”: Billson lashes big business over late invoice payments | Bruce Billson. Source: SmallBizWeek
Small Businesses and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson has eviscerated the more than half of big businesses in Australia that are failing to pay their suppliers on time.
A new report finds that bi... |
| Jun 29, 2022 | Official audit finds shortcomings in entrepreneurs’ grants program | Secretary of the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources David Fredericks. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)
An entrepreneurs’ program run by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER) has been critiqued by the aud... |
| Jun 22, 2022 | Grocers, farmers and distributors form alliance to advise government on food security | CEO of MGA Jos De Bruin, CEO of IFDA Richard Forbes, CEO at AMIC Patrick Hutchinson. Source: LinkedIn.
A newly launched Food Alliance will advise the federal government on solutions to what it describes as ‘immediate food-related issues’.
T... |
| Jun 21, 2022 | ACCC investigating energy market profits and potential market manipulation as SMEs bear weight of high prices | Source: Julian Smith / AAP Image
Australia’s consumer watchdog says it is prepared to take action against energy market participants “distorting or manipulating” prices, as households and small businesses feel the brunt of extreme cost incr... |
| Jun 20, 2022 | New IMD rankings sees Australia lag behind in entrepreneurship despite rising in competitiveness | The rankings suggest Australia’s export concentration remains an area of vulnerability. Source: ake1150/Adobe.
This year Australia climbed three spots in its competitiveness standing after in 2021 scoring its lowest ranking in 25 years.
Aus... |
| Jun 15, 2022 | CSIRO offering free R&D cyber security training for SMEs | Source: Unsplash/Freestocks.
The CSIRO is offering 10 weeks of free research and development training for SME staff who are responsible for providing new cybersecurity solutions.
The ‘Innovate to Grow: Cyber Security’ training will start on... |
| Jun 14, 2022 | Queensland looks to bring more First Nations SMEs into NDIS market through business development program | Queensland minister for seniors and disability services, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partnerships Craig Crawford. Source: AAP Image/Dan Peled
The Queensland government is encouraging Indigenous sole traders, businesses and org... |
| Jun 13, 2022 | Grants of up to $50,000 available to help WA small businesses win government contracts | WA minister for state development, jobs and trade Roger Cook encourages local businesses to apply. Source: AAP/Richard Wainwright.
Three new rounds of the $2 million Local Capability Fund (LCF) have been announced by the WA state government... |
| Jun 10, 2022 | Treasurer Jim Chalmers will deliver another budget in October this year | Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Source: AAP/Joel Carrett.
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers will deliver a budget in the last week of October, so as to put the Albanese government’s election promises in play and start the cutting back of wasteful expe... |
| May 30, 2022 | Chalmers says falling wages, inflation and interest rates the key concerns for Treasury | Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Source: AAP/Mick Tsikas
Jim Chalmers has spent three days with Treasury secretary Dr Steven Kennedy poring over the so-called ‘red book’ brief to discuss the economic lay of the land.
Australia’s new Treasurer said t... |
| May 26, 2022 | Victorian government allocates $1.5 million to businesses transitioning to EVs | Source: Unsplach/Andrew Roberts.
The Victorian government has allocated $1.5 million to businesses transitioning to zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) for their business fleets, in an effort to support the uptake of electric vehicles and reduce e... |
| May 19, 2022 | Election 2022: Labor promises $1 billion investment to boost Australian manufacturing | Labor Leader Anthony Albanese. Source: AAP
The Labor party has promised a $1 billion investment in advanced manufacturing to ‘build a future made in Australia’.
The funding was announced on Sunday as part of a bigger $15 billion national re... |
| May 18, 2022 | Bruce Billson says regulation falling “disproportionately” on small business | Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson. Source: AAP/Tracey Nearmy
In a submission to the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet, Bruce Billson says small businesses are made to shoulder the weight of ‘di... |
| May 17, 2022 | New grants available for Queenslanders affected by latest floods | A bird's-eye view of a suburb near the Brisbane CBD.
In light of more flooding and heavy rains, the Queensland government has made disaster funding available through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangemen... |
| May 16, 2022 | ATO warns businesses to be on top of fringe benefits tax as lodgement deadline looms | The Australian Taxation Office has delivered some bad news to employers that have provided staff with some form of benefit during the coronavirus pandemic to work from home.
Fringe benefits tax (FBT) might just be a problem they need to thi... |
| May 13, 2022 | Queensland’s $5 million business grant program reopens applications following technical issues | The Queensland Business Basics Grant is set to reopen next week. Technical issues prevented the third round of applications from opening on the original planned date of May 4, as reported in The Mandarin.
The new dates are planned for 9am M... |
| May 10, 2022 | Billson calls on government to help SMEs resolve disputes with social media giants | Source: AAP/Tracey Nearmy
Australian small business and family enterprise ombudsman (ASBFEO) Bruce Billlson has advocated for government support for small businesses that trade on digital platforms, in his submission to the Australian Compe... |
| May 5, 2022 | Tech issues delay Queensland small business grant applications | Source: Pexels/Eren Li.
The opening of applications for Business Queensland’s Business Basics Grant program, originally scheduled for 9am on May 4, has been delayed by what the state government described as “unprecedented nationwide technic... |
| Apr 29, 2022 | Election 2022: Morrison, Joyce push plan to create 450,000 jobs in regional Australia | Source: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has moved the debate on creating more jobs across the country up a notch by announcing that 450,000 of the 1.3 million jobs the federal government says it wants to be created in... |
| Apr 28, 2022 | Tax revenue increased across all levels of government to $593 million last financial year | Source: Australian Tax Office.
The combined tax take for all levels of government across Australia hit $593.2 billion, or 28.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) during the 2020-21 financial year, according to data released by the Australian ... |
