News
The Victorian Government’s plans to release a $3 billion support package to businesses has been met with apprehension from business owners. On Sunday evening, Premier Daniel Andrews’ announced that the program of support will help businesses preserve jobs and survive the current crisis. “It is an unprecedented set of challenges that business face,” Premier Andrews […]
The NSW Government has released a 24-Hour Economy Strategy to revamp Sydney’s nightlife, support local businesses and create more jobs in the wake of COVID-19. The strategy will be driven by a new Coordinator General tasked with unlocking the city’s cultural and economic potential by bringing stakeholders together from across industry and councils and looking […]
To support businesses experiencing financial distress throughout COVID-19, the Australian Government introduced measures to relax insolvency and bankruptcy rules in March. These changes were set to draw to a close by 30 September, but have now been extended until 31 December 2020. Many commentators had predicted that the changes would need to be extended, especially […]
Early this week, the Tax Institute of Australia (TIA) called for guidance material on the JobKeeper scheme in relation to the R&D Tax Concession and transfer pricing. In an open letter from TIA president Peter Godber, the TIA made a submission to the ATO encouraging a more “considered approach … in relation to guidance being […]
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns are a rising trend in investment decision-making globally. Between 2016 and 2018, the value of sustainable and responsible investment assets in Europe, the US, Japan, Canada and Australia/New Zealand rose by 34 per cent to $30.7 trillion. This trend has been accelerating the fastest in the United States. More […]
A new report from KPMG finds investment in Australia’s fintech sector has accelerated in the first half of 2020, reaching US$376.5 million. This is more than a 150% increase on the corresponding period in 2019 (US$149.05 mil). However, a fall in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and private equity (PE) activity caused total investment in Australian fintech to fall from […]
Applications for the Business Research and Innovation Initiative (BRII) grant close tomorrow, 10 September 2020 5:00 pm AEST. Under the BRII, SMEs can apply to receive up to $100,000 to conduct a feasibility study on five key challenges that the government currently faces. If successful, applicants can then receive up to $1 million to develop […]
The Victorian Government has contracted with tech giants Salesforce and IBM to digitise their contact tracing efforts after being slammed by the Federal Government. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister criticised Victoria’s roadmap out of lockdown as the “worst case scenario.” “The most important thing is ensuring that we build an integrated tracing capability right across […]
The Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ACCI) has put out a statement arguing that the Victorian Government’s roadmap for reopening Metropolitan Melbourne uses excessive thresholds for easing restrictions and should be overhauled using the National roadmap as the basis. “The Victorian Government should use the national roadmap as a starting point for getting to […]
New data has revealed voluntary administrations have significantly reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting the uncertain mindset of small business owners. However, this could be prolonging an insolvency cliff. Prushka Fast Debt Recovery revealed through data sourced from court records that the number of liquidations and administrations started to drop in April this year. In […]
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell has called on the Victorian Government to cover the costs associated with small business closures, with tough trading restrictions to remain in place until the end of October, at the earliest. In announcing his Government’s much-anticipated steps to easing the nation’s strictest lockdown, Premier Daniel […]
The Senate Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology has recommended that the Australian Government provide greater clarity around the Research & Development Tax Incentive (RDTI) eligibility guidelines to ensure software innovation and creation is supported in Australia. On Wednesday, Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg tabled an interim report covering tax, regulation, access to capital, skills […]
The NSW Government has released its first AI strategy to create jobs and improve services to citizens. Premier Gladys Berejiklian emphasised the positive impact that this would have on job creation in IT, cyber security, data science and engineering. “This is great news for citizens, researchers and businesses. We know how important AI is and […]
The ABS confirmed Australia’s first recession since 1990 after recording two consecutive quarters of economic decline. After being hammered by the pandemic, bushfires and drought, Australia’s GDP plunged by 7 per cent in the April-June quarter. This follows a 0.3 per cent fall in the previous quarter. The 7 per cent fall is also the […]
Tenants who received rent relief under the COVID-19 mandatory code of conduct will continue to receive concessions for at least six months after October 2020. Last week, the NSW Supreme Court found that luxury footwear retailer, Sneakerboy, will have until 30 April 2021 before its landlord can increase rent or evict it. What relief do […]
Consumers using buy now, pay later services won’t have legal protection as companies such as Afterpay and Zip are being called to ‘self-regulate’. This comes from an interim report from the Senate Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology. Buy now, pay later (BNPL) fintech companies have become increasingly popular, with Australia’s leader Afterpay […]
Australian startup ACE EV has unveiled their plans for Australian-manufactured electric cars, made from imported flat-pack vehicle kits. From 2019-2020 there was a 40 per cent increase in global sales of electric vehicles. As the electric vehicle market continues to grow Greg McGarvie and his international team from ACE EV have created a flat-pack model […]
Employers breathe a sigh of relief as the Fair Work Commission releases draft flexibility clauses that help employers and employees discuss flexible working arrangements during and beyond COVID-19. On Monday, Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross published a “draft award flexibility schedule” outlining the ideas that modern awards could adopt to help SMEs achieve flexible […]
Facebook is threatening to ban news from being shared on its platforms in Australia, due to a new regulatory code that would force themselves and Google to pay news publishers for content. The mandatory news code being introduced has been supported by major media companies including Nine Entertainment, News Corp Australia and Guardian Australia, looking […]
Key changes will be made to ease restrictions on the NSW Victorian border to help residents and local businesses operate as Victoria continues to battle COVID-19. A single border region will be reinstated that extends to around 50 kilometres on either side of the border. The new border region and ‘border region resident’ permit will […]
