News
The Victorian Essential Services Commission announced this week that it will introduce new mandatory requirements for energy retailers to provide “reasonable” assistance to small businesses in “financial distress” and support for residential customers. On 24 August, the commission released temporary coronavirus pandemic requirements to assist small businesses and residential customers in Victoria on top of […]
Businesses have been plunged into further uncertainty as the Senate inquiry into R&D tax incentive (‘RDTI’) reforms is delayed a third time this year. What do we know so far? The Treasury Laws Amendment (Research and Development Tax Incentive) Bill 2019 (‘the Bill’) was introduced on the 5 December 2019 to reform RDTIs. Treasurer Josh […]
The Morrison Government has announced they will invest $1 billion into the Australian defence industry to help create jobs in SMEs and stimulate the economy. In his announcement, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the package is estimated to support around 4,000 jobs across Australia and help many small and medium sized businesses in the defence-industry […]
The NSW government has unveiled a $45 million grant program for small businesses and not-for-profits affected by the NSW and Victorian border closure. Eligible businesses along the NSW and Victorian border can apply for the Southern Border Small Business Support Grant from 8 September to 18 October 2020 via the Service NSW website. Premier Gladys […]
A deal to sell the company behind some of Australia’s most popular milk brands to a Chinese firm has been called off. Lion Dairy and Drinks – home to Big M, Dare Iced Coffee and Yoplait yoghurt – was to be sold to Chinese company Mengniu Dairy as announced by Japanese company Kirin in November […]
It’s good news for Sydney-based businesses after the announcement that Vivid Sydney will be returning for 2021. This will be the 12th year the award-winning light show will run, with it being cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Jan Mackenzie is the Head of Operations at Cafe Sydney – a rooftop restaurant on […]
The Australian Parliament returns today after a 10 week coronavirus break, with JobKeeper and JobSeeker up for discussion. For the first time in Australian parliamentary history, the sitting will take on a hybrid meeting structure with many members expected to join via video conferencing. In late July, the Government announced that both the JobKeeper wage […]
University of Melbourne-based researcher and entrepreneur, Professor Roland Bammer, and his clinical colleagues, Dr Shalini Amukotuwa and Dr Julian Maingard from Monash Health have released sobering findings on the extent to which patients with time-sensitive medical conditions, such as strokes, may have missed out on treatment by avoiding hospitals throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Their latest […]
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accused Google of releasing “misinformation” about the Federal Government’s plan to make them bargain with Australian news companies over payments for news content. Last month the ACCC delivered a draft code of conduct (the draft News Media Bargaining Code) governing bargaining between Google, Facebook and news media […]
Among the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, gig workers now have the option for broad insurance coverage thanks to Australian insurtech startup. Research has shown that gig workers are among the workers most impacted by the pandemic, with almost 70% saying they are now entirely without income. Over half of gig workers have lost […]
On Monday 17 August, the Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW, Industry and Trade John Barilaro announced a $12 million Going Global Package to bolster the export capabilities of eligible NSW businesses. “Helping home-grown businesses succeed in the global marketplace is more important than ever before and here in NSW we have some of […]
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has implemented changes to the JobKeeper employee eligibility rules with immediate effect. The key change to the JobKeeper rules is that the previous 1 March 2020 employee eligibility date has been updated to 1 July 2020. This means that there is now a larger catchment of people eligible for JobKeeper. […]
A new study has shown that finding a job in Australia is twice as competitive as the beginning of the year, despite the job market improving. With the unemployment rate being the highest it has been since 1998, many Australians now find themselves searching for work. The study by LinkedIn shows that while the job market […]
Significant reforms to the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) process has resulted in long approval delays for Australian startups raising capital from foreign investors. Many Australian startups raising Series A & B rounds often have to rely on foreign investors to complete their rounds as they are often larger than what local investors can allocate. These delays […]
Personal/carer’s leave must now be ‘calculated by reference to an employee’s ordinary hours of work’, reverting to the method of calculation prior to August 2019. On 13 August 2020, the High Court of Australia changed how paid personal/carer’s leave under the National Employment Standards is to be accrued (see Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd v AMWU […]
Government measures to prop up zombie businesses through the pandemic could actually be harming Australian small businesses, with new data showing company wind-ups have all but ceased in the past quarter. Prushka Fast Debt Recovery revealed through data sourced from court records that the Australian Taxation Office and other government agencies, typically the largest source […]
Australian plant-based meat startup v2food today announced its long-awaited supermarket debut. v2food is a new, innovative Australian company committed to making delicious food that is good for the planet. Developed with over 100 years of CSIRO food & science research and with powerful collaborations within the food industry, v2food will play a pivotal role in […]
Australian online dispute resolution platform, Immediation, has recently announced a new arrangement with the nation’s busiest tribunal, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). The news comes less than two months after winning an arrangement with Australia’s top courts: The Federal Court of Australia, the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court. The […]
XY Sense closes $AUD5m seed investment round to change the way businesses access and act on workplace data. Investment comes from leading Australian venture fund, Blackbird Ventures, staff and angel investors including; Danny Gorog (Former CEO of Outware), Sandy Kory (Angel investor in Canva, Palantir) and, Marc Alexander (CEO LIFX) among others, to support the […]
New research has revealed that 30 per cent of Australian businesses with customer foot traffic do not use a visitor check-in system that complies with their State Government directives, and 21 per cent do not use a check-in system at all. West Australian businesses are the least compliant, while NSW businesses are ahead of the […]
