News
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 […]
People who live in New South Wales and South Australia but work in Victoria are now eligible for a $1,500 Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment if they need to self-isolate or quarantine due to COVID-19. The Australian Government announced on 28 August the extension of the payment Victorian’s are currently receiving, to people who do not […]
Premier Daniel Andrews will release his reopening roadmap for Victoria this Sunday, September 6th. In a statement released today, the Victorian Government has said they will release their plan to reopen the state from Stage 4 lockdown, aiming to provide certainty and clarity for the people and businesses within the state. This announcement comes as […]
47 per cent of small to medium enterprises expect salary increases to be frozen for at least 12 months, according to a new study from ACA research. It is positive to see that the proportion of SMEs reporting a decline in revenue has decreased from 78 per cent to 67 per cent last month. Consequently, […]
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has lashed out at Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews over the premier’s handling of COVID-19 during a heated interview with ABC News Breakfast. The Morrison Government is demanding that the premier state what the appropriate level of new cases in Victoria would be for him to open up Stage 4 restrictions. They are […]
The NSW government announced today that regional, small and medium-sized businesses will be prioritised for all direct procurements up to $250,000. Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW John Barilaro explained that the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) and Regional Procurement Policy provides a much needed boost for businesses impacted by droughts, bushfires and COVID-19. […]
Despite the global economic slow-down, the shift to online spending and move from traditional forms of credit have boosted Afterpay’s position domestically and internationally. Afterpay announced today that it had doubled its revenue to $519.2 million. This is a 97 per cent increase from the 2019 financial year. Net losses are also down to $22.9 […]
NSW small businesses have less than a week left to apply for the Small Business Recovery Grant. The Grant was opened up to small businesses who employ less than 20 full-time staff to help meet the costs of safely reopening or up-scaling operations. Small businesses which meet the eligibility criteria may claim between $500 and $3000 to help create COVID-19 […]
ANZ today launched a new digital lending platform to provide a conditional $200,000 to small businesses in unsecured lending in as little as 20 minutes if they share their Accounting Software Platform. Developed in partnership with DemystData – an external data marketplace – ANZ Online Business Lending syncs with Accounting Software Platforms (ASPs) Xero, QuickBooks […]
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 […]
