News
Global payment tech company Square has launched a countertop device that enables customer-facing businesses across Australia to transform iPads into full-integrated point-of-sale systems. According to Australian Country Manager, Ben Pfisterer, the Square Stand for contactless and chip payments “replaces the need for clunky cash-drawers, piles of paper receipts and cluttered countertops”. “There is an overwhelming […]
Vacuum company Dyson has revealed plans to invest £2 billion (AUD: $3.4 billion) into building an electric car due to be launched in 2020. In a letter to staff, Dyson founder, James Dyson, announced that the company had begun work on the battery electric vehicle. “We’ve started building an exceptional team that combines top Dyson […]
nbn, the government-owned company delivering Australia’s national broadband network, has announced a new wholesale pricing model for retail service providers, with potential savings for their medium and enterprise business customers. On 1 October 2017, nbn will introduce a new spend cap on its high bandwidth business products, which enable business-grade applications such as multiline […]
NSW businesses can apply for matched grants of up to $250,000 to support joint R&D projects between NSW and Israel, under an innovation program announced by Minister for Innovation Matt Kean. The Minister said the ‘NSW-Israel R&D Tech Innovation Program’ would open global opportunities to develop, commercialise and sell new products and services while building […]
Submissions on the government’s Banking Executive Accountability Regime (BEAR) close on Friday, September 29, following the release of the draft legislation last week. Treasurer Scott Morrison said the draft legislation provided further clarity on the accountability obligations of banks, their directors and senior executives, with substantial fines and consequences imposed for being in breach of […]
Australian businesses will benefit from increased cyber security through the implementation of a new industry-led cyber security Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), which will receive $50 million in government funding over the next seven years. The funding will leverage more than $89 million from the 25 industry, research and government partners. Assistant Minister for Industry, Innovation […]
In the wake of Uber being stripped of its license to operate in London, the company’s newly-appointed CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has penned an open letter to Londoners, apologising for “mistakes” made by the ride sharing platform. On Friday, 22 September, Transport for London (TfL) informed Uber that it would not renew the company’s private hire […]
International students are encouraged to seek free help from the Fair Work Ombudsman following the release of a new strategy aimed at raising awareness of workplace rights among international students. Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James is encouraging international students to speak up if they have any concerns relating to their employment. “We know that international […]
Almost $18 billion worth of superannuation is still waiting to be claimed in Australia, with the ATO revealing the top ten postcodes for unclaimed super. According to the ATO, as at 30 June 2017, there were over 6.3 million lost and ATO-held super accounts with a total value of $17.87 billion. Super funds are holding […]
An inter-governmental partnership to help reduce red tape for new small businesses has been announced today. The announcement follows the test launch, in April 2017, of a new business registration service to make the process simpler for small businesses, with the aim being to save new business starters $40 million each year. The Federal Government […]
Small to medium-sized businesses will have an opportunity to access crowd-sourced funding to help them begin or grow their business when the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) releases its new crowd-sourced funding (CSF) regime on September 29, 2017. ASIC Commissioner John Price said: “Crowd-sourced funding provides an opportunity for small to medium-sized businesses to […]
The Australian Small Business and Family Ombudsman is urging the Government to simplify small business registration. In a submission to the Government’s consultation on Modernising Business Registers, Ombudsman Kate Carnell has called for the consolidation of registration requirements for small business. “The optimal outcome would be one form hosted by a single agency on a […]
Great sci-tech innovations are trapped in the university system because there has been a failure to properly test them with potential customers in mind, according to Steve Brodie, the new Managing Director of CSIRO’s ON Accelerator program. Established in 2015, ON assists researchers from the fields of science and technology to validate – and discover a […]
Australasia’s largest business management software provider, MYOB, supports the Government’s decision to encourage Australians to have their say on the nation’s digital future, following yesterday’s announcement of the Digital Economy Strategy. MYOB chief executive Tim Reed said the company would take this opportunity to make a submission on behalf of its 1.2 million small business […]
Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer has been reminded of its obligation to comply with Australian unfair contract terms legislation ahead of its imminent arrival in Australia. Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell said analysis of the Amazon Marketplace contract terms in the United States suggested they would have to be changed […]
Today marks the launch of the new $10 banknote, which like the $5 banknote features cutting edge technology to protect against counterfeiting. Governor Philip Lowe said the new $10 banknote contained the ‘same world-leading security features as the new $5 note.’ “These (features) include the top-to-bottom window that contains multiple interactive elements, a patch […]
NSW Parliament has passed legislation giving retailers based outside of Sydney CBD and Bondi the option of trading on all future Boxing Days. Introduced by Treasurer Dominic Perrottet earlier this month, in accordance with the findings of an independent review by Professor Percy Allan, the Retail Trading Amendment (Boxing Day) Bill 2017 has amended the Retail Trading […]
Small businesses are going offline amid fears of hacking with the number of businesses hosting their own website down from 61 per cent to 52 per cent, according to the 2017 Sensis eBusiness Report. The survey of more than 1000 small and medium businesses found that 81 per cent of business owners were worried about […]
Wage suppression strategies and the termination of enterprise agreements could cost Australian’s $100 billion in lost retirement savings, according to a report from the Centre for Future Work. The report estimates that superannuation balances could be cut by $30,000 to $270,000 for a 40-year-old worker subjected to one of the eight wage suppression strategies, such […]
Ten startups and scaleups have been selected to participate in Lion’s 12-week food and beverage industry accelerator program. Run by corporate accelerator Slingshot, Lion ‘Unleashed’ will pair this cohort with Lion’s brands. The following startups and scaleups were drawn from amongst 300 applicants worldwide: BoozeBud – an alcohol discovery and delivery platform Earlypay Exchange – […]
