Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt said the proposal responds to industry lobbying efforts. It comes as the Fair Work Commission reviews a push to allow retail managers to opt for higher fixed annual salaries instead of variable penalty rates.

Watt expressed alarm over the proposed changes. “If successful, these applications by employer groups would reduce the overall income of workers by thousands of dollars each year,” he said.

But business groups have backed the application, which was submitted by the Australian Retailers’ Association (ARA).

“It sounds pretty reasonable to us, from a business point of view,” said Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Andrew McKellar on Sky News in February. “In a lot of cases, these awards really aren’t modern, but here’s a chance to introduce some flexibility.”

Another part of the ARA’s proposal is a new “simplified” general retail industry award, which Chief Industry Affairs Officer Fleur Brown says will remove some of the “enormous burden on small to medium businesses in particular” when it comes to keeping track of different retail pay rates.

How could these potential changes impact small-business employers?

Some business groups are worried that legislating award rates could cause additional monetary difficulties for small businesses.

“If wage increases aren’t linked to productivity gains, they’re inherently inflationary and that means we risk seeing living standards decline further,” said Business Council Chief Executive Bran Black.

On the other hand, if employees get the legal right to choose between annual salary and variable hourly penalty rates, this could also introduce more complexity for small-business employers.

“This is something they would have to look at – whether they can accommodate that flexibility with a small workforce,” said Andrew McKellar.

Council of Small Business Organisations Australia CEO Luke Achterstraat expressed support for a simplified awards system.

“In the retail sector alone, employers must navigate 994 different pay rates across 96 pages just to ensure their employees are paid correctly,” he said.

“Red tape and complexity is undermining the viability of Australian small businesses. It’s not sustainable.”

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Another proposed change would allow retail managers to choose an annual salary at a higher fixed rate over variable, hourly penalty rates.

ARA Chief Industry Affairs Officer Fleur Brown claimed that the amendments will remove some of the “enormous burden on small to medium businesses in particular” when it comes to keeping track of the GRIA’s hundreds of different retail pay rates.

“The complexity and onerous detail puts an enormous burden on small to medium businesses in particular who simply want to focus on fairly rewarding their team, doing the right thing by their customers and being part of the retail sector which is a crucial element of the Australian economy,” said Brown.

The Fair Work Commission will hear the ARA’s application to change the award next month. The hearing comes as a review into the GRIA initiated by the Federal Government in 2023. 

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Andrew McKellar has praised the move.

“It sounds pretty reasonable to us, from a business point of view,” he said on Sky News last Friday. “In a lot of cases, these awards really aren’t modern, but here’s a chance to introduce some flexibility.”

When asked by Sky News journalistTom Connell about whether small-business owners would have difficulty juggling new and old employee remuneration systems, McKellar said this could potentially be a concern.

“This is something they’d have to look at, whether they can accommodate that flexibility with a small workforce,” he said.

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One of the two winners is the Victoria-based small business photoSentinel, which manufactures time lapse and remote monitoring camera systems helping to track and report on construction projects worldwide.

Founded in 2010, photoSentinel has evolved to become a globally-recognised name when it comes to construction time-lapse solutions and has successfully established itself in the United States and the Middle East.

To date, photoSentinel has deployed more than 5,600 cameras across 55 countries, and increased its export sales from 37 per cent to 70 per cent of total revenue in just two years.

Chief Executive Officer Matthew Perrier said the company is “extremely proud” to have won its second Australian Export Award, following a win in the same award category in 2018.

“Recognition validates and supports our efforts to grow our export business through increased exposure locally and globally,” he said.

The other small business awardee is the Marine Air Flow International that provides custom-engineered marine ventilation equipment to vessels of all sizes and applications.

The Queensland-based business made its big export break came after it started to exhibit at international boat shows in 2017. Since then, exports have since surged to almost 50 per cent of its total sales with Singapore and Turkey key export markets.

“Our commitment to quality is what has allowed us to evolve, grow and expand,” said Marine Air Flow International’s Director Bradley Marsden. “Every year, we refuse to stay behind and invest in cutting-edge equipment, R&D and staff training.”

Now in its 62nd year, the Australian Export Awards is Australia’s longest-running business awards program and celebrates the achievements of exporters and their contribution to Australia’s economic growth.

The Australian Export Awards are proudly presented by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) in partnership with State and Territory awards programs. The Awards are made possible through the valued contributions of key sponsors, including leading Australian corporations and government departments.

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Of the 88 finalists that have been named, eight of them are small businesses, which are:

• Clean & Pure (WA) – a natural beauty and skincare company that follows sustainable practices in manufacturing and supply chain management.
• Folktale (ACT) – a subscription-based, software-as-a-service platform that enables the collection of rich, qualitative data through community-led video storytelling.
• Marine Air Flow International (QLD) – delivers marine ventilation equipment to vessels of all sizes and applications.
• Philip Agri (NT) – an agricultural consultancy based in Darwin. It harnesses more than 30 years of expertise to support clients in the global agriculture market.
• photoSentinel (VIC) – supplies long-term timelapse and remote monitoring cameras for the photography and construction industries.
• Planet Lighting (NSW) – delivers sustainable lighting solutions to architecture, healthcare, and aquaculture projects globally with a 110-year design and manufacturing legacy.
• Tasman Sea Salt (TAS) – offers a range of uniquely Tasmanian salts that are patronised by chefs and home cooks across the globe.
• Wilco Technologies (SA) – develops specialised technology for installing the support frameworks for drilling and blasting in mines, making underground mining safer.

Collectively, the finalist small-business exporters have generated over half of the $7.8 billion in export earnings generated by the finalists in FY2023/24.

The winners of the 2024 Australian Export Awards will be announced on 20 November.

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These finalists emerged as winners in their respective state and territory Export Award ceremonies and have been honoured for their contributions to Australia’s economy through job creation and export growth.

The list of finalists can be found here.

In particular, over half of these businesses are small enterprises with annual turnovers of less than $10 million, highlighting anew the crucial role small businesses play in Australia’s export market.

Collectively, this year’s finalists employed more than 24,300 people and generated nearly $8 billion in export earnings in the last financial year. They were praised by the Minister for Trade, Don Farrell, for helping boost employment in the country alongside the global presence of Australian goods and services with their international expansion.

The awards ceremony will take place on 20 November , where winners in 13 award categories will be named, and the highly anticipated Australian Exporter of the Year will be announced.

The Australian Export Awards have celebrated the international success of over 2,000 Australian businesses since their inception in 1963.

The program is presented by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) and is a collaborative effort involving state and territory partners, alongside sponsors.

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Selected from more than 22,000 nominations nationwide, and having undergone a rigorous judging process, the winners will represent their respective states in the national leg of the competition to be held on 27 November in Melbourne.

The regional winners were chosen as the most outstanding across seven categories: Accelerating Women, Building Communities, Championing Health, Embracing Innovation, Indigenous Excellence, Outstanding Growth, and Promoting Sustainability.

A long history of achievements

With over 30 years of history, Telstra’s Best of Business Awards program has been supporting Australian small businesses, celebrating their achievements and the people behind them, while giving them the opportunity to learn from Australia’s best business minds. Many of ISB’s Top 50 Small Business Leaders have featured among past winners.

Amanda Hutton, Group Executive, Telstra Business said, “To be recognised as a state winner in the Telstra Best of Business Awards is an incredible accomplishment, and we hope this provides these businesses with the recognition they deserve, and a moment to shine the spotlight on their significant work for their communities.”

The national category winners and the Business of the Year award for the 2024 Telstra Best in Business Awards will be announced on 28 November.

Regional winners

The winners in each state include:

Accelerating Women

• Menopause Friendly Australia (WA) – empowers women by addressing menopause’s impact in the workplace.
• VA Institute (TAS) – offers comprehensive training and support for virtual assistants.
• Wholesome Blends (QLD) – provides Australian families a wholefood option for enteral or tube-fed nutrition.
• Ikuntji Artists (NT) – supports local Aboriginal artists and fostersfoster Anangu culture through canvas, fabrics, and jewellery.

Building Communities

• Left Field (TAS) – provides continuous employment in horticulture labour hire through its Farm Work Loop.
• The yLead Association (QLD) – empowers youth across Australia and New Zealand with transformative leadership programs.
• Hey Lemonade (NSW) – an app that helps users manage stress and build resilience to tackle smaller mental health issues in a practical way.
• Woden Valley Early Learning Centre (ACT) – provides nature-based early childhood education for children aged 6 weeks to 5 years.

Championing Health

• Medmate Australia (VIC) – a national virtual care platform offering access to registered doctors, prescriptions and medical advice daily.
• Bellberry (SA) – enhances research quality and participant welfare through its Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) services.
• Billy Cart Behaviour (ACT) – offers personalised, compassionate behaviour support for individuals with disabilities.

Embracing Innovation

• Meke Baby (VIC) – enables safe and convenient feeding for babies through its portable milk-warming device.
• MAC Trade Services (SA) – reduces fossil fuel dependence by retrofitting homes and businesses with energy-efficient appliances and clean energy solutions.
• Verterra Ecological Engineering (QLD) – designs, constructs and manages sustainable ecosystems.
• SAPHI (NSW) – specialises in AI imaging, edge computing and smart operational technology solutions for mining, heavy industry and government sectors.

Indigenous Excellence

• Bunbara (WA) – Offers integrated solutions in the energy, mining and defence sectors.
• Rainy Day Recruitment (SA) – specialises in placing professionals in IT, engineering and professional service roles
• DeadlyScience (NSW) – an education organisation focused on providing STEM learning and resources to regional and remote schools, benefiting Indigenous secondary students.

Outstanding Growth

• Taskforce Australia (VIC) – excels in safety compliance and maintenance for rental properties.
• MyVenue (SA) – a full-service developer of cloud-based point-of-sale software solutions specifically targeted towards sports, entertainment and hospitality venues.
• Proptech Labs (NSW) – a technology company offering innovative solutions to the property management industry.

Promoting Sustainability

• Sustainable Plastic Solutions (VIC) – specializes in creating custom resins and closed-loop solutions for large organisations.
• Hera Engineering (WA) – a consultancy specialising in structural, civil, facade and temporary works engineering.
• NTEX (NT) – a resource recovery company that transforms potential environmental liabilities into valuable resources.
• Wildlife Drones (ACT) – a technology company revolutionising animal tracking.

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Atherton’s Empowered Women in Trades (EWIT) was hailed as the champion in the Social Enterprise Business category at the 2024 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards on August 24th.

The Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards aim to shine a spotlight on the economic, cultural, and social contributions of female-led small businesses, in both capital cities as well as rural and regional towns across the nation. The awards recognised EWIT for its outstanding contributions to the social enterprise sector in “revolutionising the trades industry”, by creating opportunities for and empowering women and non-binary people by encouraging them to enter a career in skilled trades.

In her acceptance speech, Atherton said, “Australia was once a world champion in Women’s Rights. We were the first country to give women the dual rights to vote and stand for parliament. Let’s get the representation of women and non-binary people in skilled trades from 3 per cent to 30 per cent and, as Australians, champion women again.”

Atherton is a Top 50 winner this year – click here to read more about her trailblazing work.

Sophie Doyle is set to clean up the UK Junior Design Awards for the fourth year running

Meanwhile, parenting brand Alf the Label, founded by 2022 Top 50 Small Business Leader Sophie Doyle, was named finalist for three categories in the 2024 UK Junior Design Awards for its stylish and innovative parenting accessory products that cater to the on-the-go lifestyle of modern parents.

Alf the Label’s Ari changing bag has once again been named a finalist for the “Best Changing Bag” award. It has previously won gold in the category for four consecutive years for being able to “seamlessly blend style and practicality.”

Another product, the Carabiner Capsule, is also in the running for “Best Innovative Product Design (Parents)” for its versatile and innovative mix and match accessory design that allows parents to create a customisable setup that transitions from pram attachment into a stylish handbag. It is also a contender in the newly entered category of “Best Travel Product (For Parents)”.

“I’m incredibly honoured that Alf the Label’s dedication to design and innovation continues to be recognised on the international stage,” said Doyle. “It’s truly humbling to see a Perth-born brand competing alongside established names in the industry.”

The UK Junior Design Awards are a renowned industry accolade, recognising excellence in design and innovation across the children’s product sector. The winners will be announced sometime in September.

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A brainchild of founder Sandra Senn, the awards are designed to honour the resilience, creativity, and determination of mums balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship, focusing more on the women behind the businesses and less on how big their business is, and what turnover they are churning.

The awards feature categories that recognise the mums in business that may have been overlooked in other award initiatives. Categories include awards for the solo mum, the neurodivergent mum, the first-generation migrant mum, the first nation mum, foster and stepmums, rural mums, and more, ensuring that every unique journey is celebrated.

“We created these awards to shine a light on the diverse and remarkable achievements of mums in business, especially those who have been overlooked in traditional award programs,” said Senn.

“As a dyslexic, neurodivergent business owner myself, I have also noticed that criticism of AI in some award processes was discouraging neurodiverse women from applying, which is incredibly frustrating,” she added. “I personally struggle to complete online forms without assistance of tools such as videos and/or voice notes, so I wanted to ensure the application process wasn’t a barrier for the Mums to enter”.

“My passion for supporting and celebrating mums in business drives everything I do. I simply wanted to create an inclusive and supportive platform. Whether they’ve overcome personal challenges, built their business from scratch, or simply inspired those around them, every mum deserves to be recognised and celebrated,” Senn further said.

Since the soft launch on socials on August 12, Business Mums Hub reported that nominations have reportedly been coming in at a steady pace.

“I am blown away by the response we have had so far. We have had over 100 nominations already across all of the categories since we launched it last week!”, Senn shared, “But it’s the positive feedback and comments that I have been getting that is truly humbling. It seems that I’m not alone in thinking that an award platform of this type is very much needed”.

Nominations are open to all mum-led businesses across Australia until September 1 2024. Winners will be announced at the award ceremony held at the Playford Hotel, Adelaide, on November 16, 2024.

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“The levy has broken for many small businesses with rising energy, rent, insurance and borrowing costs,” COSBOA CEO, Luke Achterstraat, said. “This increase of 3.75 per cent to wage costs when annual productivity is at 1.2 per cent does not add up or bode well for jobs.

“The figure comes on top of the 5.75 per cent legislated last year – which was the highest in a decade – plus an impending increase in the superannuation guarantee, and an increase in the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) of almost 40 per cent from just over 12 months ago,” he added.

Achterstraat highlighted the fact that employment costs also included superannuation, workers compensation and payroll tax.

“A $50 increase in wages means a $59 increase in total costs for small businesses,” Achterstraat said. “Owners will be forced to pass on these costs which means higher prices and inflation. And, where they are unable to do so, they face the insidious decision of reassessing staff levels and possible job losses.

“Particularly in labour-intensive industries like hospitality, retail and services, labour costs can represent almost half of the overall operating costs,” Achterstraat added. “Small-business owners are struggling, with 43 per cent currently not breaking even. Owners are paying themselves less than the average salary and working longer than the median to keep the lights on.

“ASIC’s Insolvency Statistics published last week show the horrid figure of business insolvencies in NSW now up 61 per cent from this time last year,” Achterstraat added. “We urgently need better policies that promote productivity and innovation to ensure strong wage growth is sustainable. Failure to do so will only push more small businesses to the wall.”

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The awards seeks to recognise small businesses in more than 100 categories, as well as special spotlight categories: Business of the Decade, Small Business Young Entrepreneur (aged 30 and younger), Small Business Entrepreneur (aged over 30) and the 2024 Growth Award.

According to Australian Government data, small businesses provide employment for 5.1 million Australians and account for one-third of Australia’s GDP. Moreover, as recognised via a 2023 report released by the Reserve Bank of Australia, small businesses continue to play an important role in local communities – despite an ongoing challenging economic environment particularly during the past year.

“From high inflation and exceptional increases in operating expenses, to challenges associated with staff hire, productivity and the overall current high cost of living, there’s no disputing that Australian small businesses are currently doing it very tough,” Steve Loe, Awards Founder and Managing Director of Precedent Productions – a small business in its own right which has been coordinating the Australian Small Business Champion Awards since 1999, said.

“It is often rightly said that small business is the backbone of the national economy,” Loe added. “The millions of Australian small-business operators ought to be honoured now more than ever before, not just for their economic contribution but also for their invaluable support of community-based initiatives and worthwhile causes that couldn’t overwise be supported so significantly.

“Even after more than two decades of presenting the Australian Small Business Champion Awards, I am still in absolute awe of the resilience and remarkable triumphs of our nation’s small business operators. It is truly a privilege to help shine a deserved spotlight on these small business champions. From regional and rural areas to the suburbs and capital cities, small business operators from all parts of the country are encouraged to enter the Awards – free of charge – as we strive to celebrate the people behind the small businesses that shape their local communities and our nation as a whole,” concluded Loe.

Entries to the 2024 Australian Small Business Champion Awards will remain open until 15 February 2024. Finalists of the 2024 programme will be announced in March 2024 and he winners will be revealed via two National Presentation Evening Gala events at Sydney’s The Star on 12 and 13 April 2024.

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