The Federal Government will appoint former senator Helen Coonan as the inaugural chair of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), established to provide small businesses and consumers with access to a free, fast and binding dispute resolution service for financial complaints. [Related: New Financial Complaints Authority will improve small businesses access to justice] Minister for […]
NSW now boasts a dedicated incubator for tech startups operating across the media, entertainment, games, music, design and creative industries, with The Studio today opening its doors in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. [Related: “Huge coup for Sydney” – $35m startup hub to host exclusive Microsoft accelerator program and The NSW Government is launching a […]
A report outlining steps being taken by fintech lenders to increase transparency and disclosure has been released by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), Kate Carnell, in partnership with FinTech Australia and theBankDoctor.org. The report, Fintech lending to small and medium sized enterprises: Improving transparency and disclosure, looks at the different approaches to […]
Industries left, right and centre are being infiltrated by tech-driven startups willing to address prevailing inefficiencies and achieve a superior customer experience. Against this backdrop, many incumbents are realising that unless they ride the wave of disruption, they’ll by swept away with the status quo. This week, for our exclusive “Let’s Talk…” feature examining disruption, […]
Businesses registered to sell products through Amazon’s Australian Marketplace can now harness the ecommerce giant’s logistics capabilities to reduce the burden of fulfilling online orders. Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) enables sellers to store stock at Amazon’s fulfilment centre and have the company pick, pack and ship products to customers on their behalf, eliminating the need […]
The world’s largest suit manufacturer, Dayang Group, has injected $3 million into Institchu and become a production partner to the Sydney-based menswear startup in exchange for a minority stake in its operations. Founded in 2012 by co-CEOs James Wakefield and Robin McGowan, Institchu is an online provider of custom and tailored made suits and […]
Global coding school, Le Wagon, has touched down in Australia, with the launch of two campuses catering for entrepreneurs and other creative professionals seeking the technical skillset necessary to create and work on digital products. The brainchild of Parisian brothers Romain and Boris Paillard, Le Wagon currently runs a series of 9-week coding bootcamps in […]
Former Small Business Minister Michael McCormack has been sworn in as the Deputy PM, having secured the leadership of the Nationals in the wake of Barnaby Joyce’s resignation. According to Fairfax, McCormack has signalled he will seek to reverse the Turnbull Government’s decision to move the small business ministry to the cabinet in 2015. […]
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released an issues paper for public comment, signalling the launch of its inquiry into the effect digital platforms such as Facebook and Google are having on competition in media and advertising services markets. As part of the inquiry, which was announced in December, the ACCC is seeking feedback […]
After spending decades working in the ‘big end of town’, Sydney barrister Leo Tyndall turned his efforts to the ‘smaller end’, eager to help promising SMEs deprived of finance by traditional lenders. In the four years since he founded MarketLend – an online lending platform inspired by international peer-to-peer (P2P) offerings – Tyndall (CEO) […]
