SisterWorks Inc., a Melbourne support social enterprise for local migrants, refugees and asylum seeker women has been awarded a $50,000 NAB Community Grant for its Business Lab program. Under the program, participants have access to unique business education programs tailored to the needs of vulnerable women to set-up and grow their start-up businesses. I was…
Statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on 29 June 2015 revealed the Abbott Government has overseen a period where the number of jobs in small business has increased by 146,000. This is in stark contrast to the almost half a million jobs lost in small business under the Rudd Gillard Rudd Government. In…
Tomorrow, tax changes to Employee Share Schemes (ESS) begin. These changes to the employee share scheme framework build on our Growing Jobs and Small Business package to support innovation and to create the right conditions for Australian entrepreneurs. Every single day I speak with hardworking Australians who are involved in start-ups across our country. I…
Joint media release with the Minister for Trade Andrew Robb. Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb today announced a new initiative to assist Australian businesses capture opportunities in China’s rapidly growing online retail markets. Representatives from some of China’s most influential online platforms including Alibaba, JD.com, Yihaodian and VIP.com will attend a series of…
Thursday 25 June 2015: I was pleased to see the Senate pass new laws to improve employee share schemes and provide the start-up sector with a massive boost. These changes to the employee share scheme framework build on our Growing Jobs and Small Business package to support innovation and to create the right conditions for…
Today I introduced legislation to extend unfair contract term protections for small business. This legislation will extend the consumer unfair contract terms protections to cover standard form, small business consumer-like contracts that are valued below a prescribed threshold. We took more than twenty small business specific promises to the last election. A key one was…
The Government will today introduce legislation for three more measures to support small business as part of the 2015 Budget’s $5.5 billion Jobs and Small Business package. The Coalition Government understands the varying needs of Australian small businesses, we know one size does not fit all and our Budget measures reflect this. To ensure all…
Wednesday, 17 June 2015: I am pleased to announce that no obstacles remain to retailers signing on to the Competition and Consumer (Industry Codes—Food and Grocery) Regulation 2015 – The Food and Grocery Code of Conduct with the disallowance period in the Senate ending. I congratulate Woolworths and ALDI for showing industry leadership by committing…
Joint media release with Standards Australia 16 June 2015: * Launch of Australia-led APEC project to enhance international trade and business opportunities for small business and family enterprise. * Project will seek to harmonise data and information flow standards to facilitate the movement of data across APEC economies. * APEC SMEs and relevant stakeholders can…
Wednesday, 3 June 2015 Today I introduced The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bills. This fulfils a key election commitment of the Abbott Government and shows our dedication to ensuring Australia becomes the best place to start and grow a small business. The Government undertook extensive consultations to determine the most appropriate functions,…