Budget 2022: SME leaders concerned over $8 million tweak in Small Business Ombudsman funding
Small business luminaries fear the move to redirect funding could limit the Small Business Ombudsman’s other business support initiatives.
Small business luminaries have questioned the federal government’s decision to partially redirect $8 million in Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) funding towards mental health and debt counselling services, fearing the move could limit the organisation’s other business support initiatives.
Labor’s 2022-2023 federal budget, handed down on Tuesday, channels $10.9 million in funding towards the NewAccess for Small Business Owners mental health service, and $4 million to the Small Business Debt Helpline.
Those measures will “redirect partial funding” from the $8 million ASBFEO funding component introduced in the Coalition’s March budget, the federal government said.
It will also utilise savings identified through Labor’s holistic spending audit.
In a statement, ombudsman Bruce Billson said Labor’s support for NewAccess — itself a joint initiative between ASBFEO and BeyondBlue — and the debt helpline was “extremely welcome”.
“Many people have invested a lifetime, and in some cases their family home, into building up their business, which amplifies the emotional challenges,” he said.
However, Billson noted the helpline funding was “partly paid for by redirecting $8 million announced in the March budget for the My Business Future program”.
It is understood the ASBFEO’s My Business Future program includes measures intended to improve small business resilience to significant business shocks, like natural disasters or unexpected supply chain disruptions.
Inaugural ombudsman Kate Carnell, whose tenure in the role ended March last year, tells SmartCompany mental health and debt counselling are inextricably linked to small business resiliency.
Mental health and financial management support are “fundamental to keeping these small businesses afloat, and most importantly, fundamental for those people who are running small businesses,” she says.
“If they fall over, then the business falls over.”
However, Carnell says limiting funding to the ASBFEO’s other activities would be “a bit short-sighted”, as the organisation’s capacity to conduct pressing reviews or provide support through fires, floods, and supply chain disruptions could become “significantly less”.
Continued resiliency support is even more pressing in regional areas where small businesses serve as hubs of the community, she adds.
“So all I can say is it’s really important, and so I hope that redirecting that funding won’t mean that small business resilience isn’t seen as pretty important.”
Peter Strong, former CEO of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA), called the funding tweaks “shallow policy” which could undermine the ASBFEO’s existing small business support measures.
“The Ombudsman has to be flexible enough to respond as needed to different small business needs,” he said.
“So bushfires, floods, all these sorts of things, impact differently upon different businesses… This is where the Ombudsman should be encouraged, to respond as they see fit to different situations.”
While business figures have questioned the move, Small Business Minister Julie Collins emphasised that those helpline services themselves constitute resiliency support in and of themselves.
“Small business has been at the centre of the Albanese government’s decision making, and we want to help them improve their long-term resilience and help them bounce back following significant challenges in recent years,” she said when announcing the measures last week.
Alexi Boyd, the current COSBOA CEO, also celebrated the move.
“We warmly welcome the funding of these programs and know they will be vital to support our small business operators going through hard times,” she said in a post-budget announcement.
