The ABS figures show that the Australian economy grew by just 0.2 per cent in the March quarter, with public spending seeing the largest detraction from growth since 2017. 

In Addition, GDP per capita swung to a 0.2 per cent decline from a 0.1 per cent rise in the December quarter.

COSBOA CEO Luke Achterstraat said the figures are a wake-up call for policymakers, highlighting the urgent need to boost private sector investment and support businesses.

“The data paints a clear picture of an economy under pressure; with business owners bearing the brunt of rising costs, policy uncertainty and falling consumer demand.

“Private sector investment is stalling. Productivity is stagnant. Small businesses are doing everything they can, but the settings are not helping them to grow,” Achterstraat stated.

To address the issues, COSBOA is calling for reforms to unlock small business potential and restore national productivity.

The proposed measures include reducing the small business tax rate from 25 per cent to 20 per cent, making the instant asset write-off permanent, flexible and fit-for-purpose training pathways, and balanced, supportive digital and privacy reform among others.

The organisation stressed that reducing the small business tax rate could boost the Australian economy by up to $11.4 billion and create up to 3370 permanent jobs.

“The modelling confirms what we’ve heard from countless small businesses: tax relief boosts cash flow, reignites investment, and increases output, wages, jobs and growth,” said Achterstraat. “This is a policy that delivers a clear net benefit to the whole Australian community.”

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Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) CEO Luke Achterstraat welcomed the new cabinet and called for small businesses to be recognised as central to achieving national economic goals. 

“Unlocking small business potential is essential to lifting productivity,” said Achterstraat.

“Measures like reducing the small business company tax rate from 25 per cent to per cent would provide immediate relief and drive investment,” he said.

With small businesses representing 97.7 per cent of all Australian businesses and employing over 5 million people, Achterstraat emphasised creating policies that support their success.  

Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, emphasised the opportunities available to “further support small and family business at a time when many are reporting really challenging trading conditions”. 

“As greater attention is given to lifting productivity and improving the supportiveness of the economic environment within which enterprising women and men consider forming, growing, investing in their business and taking risks to create economic and employment opportunities, I look forward to continuing to work well, cooperatively and with purpose with Dr Andrew Leigh in his Assistant Minister role, which now has an added productivity focus”, said Billson.

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As part of the partnership, graduates from the Cyber Wardens course in May will now be eligible to access the Bronze CyberCert certification, a foundational cybersecurity certification that helps small businesses build trust with customers and partners.

The offer also includes a discounted and fast-tracked upgrade to Silver certification, which will unlock cyber insurance. This is available to all small businesses with a valid ABN who apply within four weeks of completing the Cyber Wardens training.

“Our mission is to help small businesses make cyber security part of their everyday business, and be recognised and rewarded for their efforts to protect Australians against cyber crime,” said COSBOA CEO Luke Achterstraat.

“This partnership means practical training through Cyber Wardens now leads directly to respected industry certification through CyberCert. It’s a win for businesses, customers, and the security of our broader economy.”

Ryan Ettridge, chief of growth and partnerships at CyberCert, said the partnership represented a “game-changing” opportunity for small businesses.

“This is about giving you the protection you need, so you can stay focused on what you do best: Running and growing your business,” Ettridge added.

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Set to be held in Canberra, the forum will bring together business leaders, peak bodies, politicians and small-business owners from across the country to discuss and implement practical mechanisms to support Australia’s small-business sector.

According to COSBOA CEO Luke Achterstraat, the forum was conceived as neither major political party presented compelling policies that would help struggling small businesses weather tough economic conditions, even as the election season draws to a close.

“Throughout this election campaign, we have seen a lot of tinkering around the edges but nothing that meaningfully changes the playing field for small businesses, which are up against surging rents, power and insurance costs, as well as complex workplace laws,” Achterstraat said. “It’s important our elected representatives hear first-hand the stories of small-business owners and the sacrifices they are making to keep their doors open, keep serving their communities and to keep their staff in jobs.”

“The mental toll on small-business owners is crushing, and it’s impacting every sector in every corner of the country,” he added. “The forum…will provide an opportunity for the small business sector to have its voice heard. It’s also a prime opportunity for business leaders, small-business stakeholders and policymakers to come together and work out tangible solutions to the significant issues our small business sector is facing.”

Achterstraat also reiterated calls for the incoming government to reduce the company tax rate for small businesses with an annual turnover of less than $20 million a year from 25 per cent to 20 per cent as a means to provide instant relief that would enable small businesses to grow, reinvest and employ more staff.

“As our economic modelling shows, if the small business company tax rate was cut to 20% immediately, it would inject $11.4 billion into the economy over the next five years, with just $800 million in foregone tax revenue. This equates to $10 of growth for every $1 forfeited,” Achterstraat said. “This doesn’t just make sense in terms of ensuring a thriving and vibrant small business sector – it also makes clear economic sense.”

Achterstraat also stressed anew the need for urgent action to address the issues facing small business. “Our small businesses deserve a fair go and this Small Business Forum is a practical way to bring everyone to the table,” he concluded.

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Industry groups like the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) also criticised the fact that the pledge was simply a renewal of the write-off measure for another 12 months, rather than a move to make it permanent.

The $20,000 instant asset write-off scheme has never been made permanent by a Government, making it hard for small-business owners to plan business investments. Both Labor and the Coalition have now promised to extend the write-off if elected, but neither has so far committed to a permanent tax break.

Prime Minister Albanese said that the write-off extension would be temporary to encourage business owners to invest immediately.

“We want people to invest now,” he explained. “If you just leave it there, then there’s no incentive to go out there and make sure that you tool up your business, that you invest and you create that multiplier impact now.”

David Gandolfo, Advocacy Chair of the Commercial and Asset Finance Brokers Association of Australia, disagreed with the PM’s reasoning.

“The government’s Future Made in Australia ambition will never be achieved by incentivising businesses to buy coffee machines and hand tools,” Gandolfo argued. “Increased production capacity is only achieved by businesses investing in infrastructure assets that will increase production and create jobs.”

$20,000 figure “insufficient”

Another contentious issue is the threshold amount. Labor’s promise sticks to the $20,000 threshold of the past few years, while the Coalition has pledged to raise the incentive to $30,000 (which it previously sat at in 2019). But COSBOA CEO Luke Achterstraat thinks the threshold should be much higher than either party has planned.

“The $20,000 threshold needs to be significantly boosted to $150,000,” said Achterstraat. “The $20,000 is already insufficient and has been eaten away by inflation over the last decade.

“Major corporations don’t vote, but small business owners do, and both major parties need to lift their game to appeal to this major employer and critical electorate sector.”

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According to COSBOA, the blueprint responds to recent changes to the Fair Work Act, which the peak body believes fail to take SME interests into account.

“Recent tranches of IR change have imposed unprecedented cost and complexity onto millions of small business employers,” said COSBOA CEO Luke Achterstraat.

Among the changes that COSBOA has challenged are the 15-factor test for casual employment, legislation around unions, and the ‘right to disconnect’. The peak body also criticised the lack of explicit mentions of small businesses in the legislation.

“Take for example Division 2 of the Fair Work Act itself, which sets out the objectives of our workplace relations system,” said Achterstraat. “Small business only receives a passing reference in paragraph ‘g’ – the final element on the page – despite small business being the largest private sector employer in Australia. This sends the message that small business is an afterthought.”

Blueprint calls for mandatory SME impact statements, definition changes

COSBOA’s blueprint calls for mandatory small-business impact statements on all new legislation, ensuring that the needs and challenges of SMEs are considered from the outset, rather than being treated as an afterthought.

It would also have the Fair Work Act’s definition of a small business widened to include businesses with up to 50 employees. The change would enable more businesses to benefit from lower taxes and less stringent regulation. The peak body is also campaigning for the removal of union delegates rights, which it calls “expansive and disruptive”. Both calls were immediately slammed by the Australian Council of Trade Unions, which has branded the agenda “extreme”.

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Murray Watt has previously ruled out the expansion of the small business definition. 

“So many Australians are doing it tough and the last thing we should be doing is making it easier for businesses to sack people,” said Watt in an interview on the Nine morning program Today. “This is a time that people need to hang on to their jobs, not be at risk of losing them, and we don’t want to do anything that’s going to jeopardise this.”

Also on COSBOA’s agenda is removing complexity from the hiring of casuals, ensuring freedom of association for small businesses not wishing to be caught up in multi-employer bargaining, and a small business triage service within the Fair Work Commission to help SMEs navigate workplace complaints.

Complex legislation failing SMEs

The main problem with IR legislation, says Achterstraat, is that it is too complex. 

“It says a lot about our workplace relations system that the Department of Employment itself – that drafts the very rulebook – was found to be non-compliant,” said Achterstraat. “By expanding funding for advisory services and co-developing simplified compliance codes with small business representatives, we can help businesses navigate their obligations while fostering a more supportive environment.”

A pertinent example of this is the correct payment of workers, which small-business owners often have trouble with due to the complexity of the system. Underpayment that is found to be “intentional” by the Fair Work Ombudsman will become a criminal offense for small business owners from January 1, 2025. 

“To boost productivity growth, competition and living standards, we need to create confidence and certainty for small businesses and the people they employ,” Achterstraat concluded.

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“The rapid introduction of complex and expanding obligations would have undermined the viability of small businesses already facing a laundry list of more red tape and regulation,” COSBOA CEO Luke Achterstraat said.

The change would have removed the current small-business exemption in the Privacy Act, which would affect businesses with less than $3 million annual turnover. COSBOA explained that the exemption ensured a degree of nuance between small and micro-businesses compared to expectations of large multinational companies.

Achterstraat commented, “Removing the exemption would have also impacted over 1.1 million sole traders who are self-reliant and do not have internal compliance or legal teams.”

Achterstraat also noted that despite the delay, small businesses were already actively processing data with appropriate care and concern in fulfilment of their privacy obligations. However, he added that the costs for compliance would have been significant at a time when many small businesses are on the brink.

“More than half of small businesses surveyed recently said they expected operating conditions to only get worse over the next 12 months. There is never a good time to hoist higher costs onto small businesses, but to do so in this environment would be reckless,” he said.

COSBOA also welcomed the commission of a dedicated cost-benefit modelling report but also added that more transparency was required.

“The failure of government to release its own taxpayer-funded modelling is disappointing, especially considering the time and effort spent by small business in the process. Small business impact statements must be mandatory, and the unique small business experience must be rigorously considered at the Cabinet table, ” Achterstraat said.

“Ultimately the right decision has been made here however, we look forward to working with government on training and awareness programs that provide practical support to small business. With the right tools, resources and guidance the small business sector can continue to develop its privacy and cyber resilience,” he concluded.

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Cyber Wardens is a Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) initiative to tackle cyber crime.

The Australian government-funded program is a free online course designed to help small businesses build their cyber safety capabilities.

Green features in a series of videos and promotional materials highlighting the parallels between physical defences in boxing and digital defences in business.

“In boxing, staying one step ahead of your opponent is crucial,” he said. “The same applies to protecting your business and customers. I’m proud to be part of this initiative to help small businesses stay secure in the digital world.”

The course delivers practical tips and strategies for small business owners to enhance their cyber security.

Safeguarding small businesses against cyber crime

“The Cyber Wardens program is a great initiative for small business owners like the franchisees of UBX,” he said. “It provides them with a simple, easy to understand resource to better safeguard their businesses in an increasingly digital world.

“By integrating this cybersecurity training into their operations, our franchisees are not only protecting themselves from cyberthreats, but also ensuring the privacy and trust of our members.”

COSBOA CEO Luke Achterstraat said the association was thrilled to have Danny Green and UBX on board for the important campaign.

“Danny and UBX’s commitment to cyber security sets a powerful example for small businesses everywhere,” he said.

Cyber Wardens is a national initiative of the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia (COSBOA), supported by the Australian Government and an industry alliance led by Telstra, CommBank and the Australian Cyber Security Centre, to help protect Australia’s 2.5 million small businesses from online threats.

This story originally appeared in our sister publication, Franchise Executives.

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ABEA’s successful membership bid is a pivotal step in amplifying the voices of small businesses within the business events sector. The sector contributes an estimated $36 billion annually to the Australian economy.

The partnership will see COSBOA extend its advocacy to the business events sector. This will empower hundreds of small-business owners, operators and their employees, bolstering their influence to advocate for essential policy changes.

Together, COSBOA and ABEA will lobby for policy changes on taxes, subsidies, grants, workforce development, and fair work practices. They will work together to highlight the significant impact of the business events industry on the country to the government.

Luke Achterstraat, CEO of COSBOA, expressed enthusiasm for the development. “Welcoming ABEA into the COSBOA network is another step forward in our mission to support small businesses. The business events sector includes dynamic suppliers, organisers and venues that manage and deliver conferences, exhibitions, and meetings each year, which are vital to our economy and community. By working together, we can better address the unique challenges faced by small businesses in this sector, such as reducing administrative burdens and industrial relations amendments.

“The connecting of our organisations will enable us to present a united front to government and policymakers, ensuring that the needs of small businesses in this sector, as well as others, are heard and addressed,” added Achterstraat.

“Having a voice within the COSBOA influence will provide access to critical advocacy and resources,” said Melissa Brown, CEO of ABEA. “From workforce development and cyber security through to addressing red tape and industrial relations issues.”

“Small businesses underpin our sector, provide thousands of jobs, and bring innovative thinking to our industry.”

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The Small Business PEAK program was created on the back of research revealing that 56 per cent of small businesses are unaware of the IR legislation changes. Additionally, only seven per cent of respondents claimed to have a “comprehensive understanding” of the IR changes legislated in the last three years.

The research also reveals that 64.7 per cent of respondents don’t understand their obligations under the casual conversion IR changes that will come into force on 26 August this year, and that 63 per cent of respondents don’t understand what the new definition of a casual employee will mean for their business.

“The research highlights the low levels of awareness of IR changes,” Achterstraat said. “This was true across all industry sectors which demonstrates why Small Business Peak is so critical to the small-business community.”

On 1 January 2025 intentional underpayment of wages by employers will become a criminal offence under the IR changes, but only 28.7 per cent of respondents understand their obligations under the criminalising intentional wage underpayments IR changes – a dangerous situation considering that business owners face a penalty of a maximum of 10 years in prison if they are found to have committed wage theft under the new IR laws.

“Small businesses need to understand which IR changes apply to their operations, when they come into effect and how to ensure they meet their employer obligations and business reporting responsibilities,” Achterstraat stressed.

The Small Business PEAK program offers:

• Free small-business materials such as information sheets, timelines and details of IR legislation changes.
• A Canva tool through which small businesses can customise their IR content to fit their brand and industry sector.
• Practical case studies on how the IR changes apply in easy-to-follow scenarios.
• An AI-powered chatbot that answers questions about the new IR changes.

“The 24/7 chatbot functionality means busy small-business owners can receive speedy responses to their high-level questions with answers they can rely on,” Achterstraat said. “We hope our new resource hub will empower small business and support this engine room of our economy during these complex and uncertain times.”

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