Australian small businesses will be able to continue to access government-funded financial counselling and mental health support, with the 2024-25 federal budget providing funding for both.
In a budget measure labelled ‘Supporting Small Business’, the federal government said it will provide $10.8 million over two years, from 2024-25, to extend the Small Business Debt Helpline and the NewAccess for Small Business Owners program.
This is a similar level of funding that was allocated for the NewAccess program in the October 2022 federal budget, which also provided $4 million to the Small Business Debt Helpline.
Those funding allocations were due to end in December this year.
The NewAccess program provides free, tailored and confidential mental health support for business operators via telehealth sessions and is run by BeyondBlue. The Small Business Debt Helpline is a free phone-based financial counselling service offered by Financial Counselling Australia.
Both programs have received funding from the Labor government in previous budgets.
In documents accompanying the budget papers, the government said it “recognises small business owners face unique challenges, with their mental health connected to the financial health of their small business”.
This support for small businesses also extends to helping them resolve disputes with other businesses.
To this end, the government will provide $2.6 million over four years, from 2024-25, and $700,000 per year on an ongoing basis, for the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) to help businesses without legal representation to access alternative dispute resolution services.
The government also hopes to level the power imbalance that often exists between franchisors and franchisees, and has allocated $3 million over two years to implement its response to the recent review of the Franchising Code of Conduct.
As previously reported by SmartCompany, the review recommended the government form a taskforce to investigate the feasibility of a licensing model for franchising in Australia, as part of an overhaul of the Franchising Code that is due to expire in April 2025.
The government has also previously indicated it supports a number of recommendations from the recent review of the payment times reporting framework.
The 2024-25 budget provides $25.3 million to implement a range of reforms in this area, including granting the Payment Time Reporting Regulator’s resourcing and its information technology systems.
To see SmartCompany‘s full budget coverage, click here.
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News Editor
Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on Twitter at @ellykeating.
