June 2022

State budget to supercharge small business

Key budget highlights include:

• Payroll tax cuts will see more than 12,000 businesses with payrolls under $10.4 million save up to $26,000 per year.
• Permanent ongoing funding for small business grants to continue to assist businesses to start and grow.
• Ongoing funding for the Mentoring for Growth initiative to continue to provide support to small business owners and operators through free business mentoring.
• A $6.75 million Small Business Wellness and Support package to help those businesses hardest hit by the pandemic and the recent floods.

For more information, visit the State Budget website.

Small Business Connect Reader Survey

It is time for a change and to help this newsletter evolve, the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training is conducting a Small Business Connect reader survey.

This survey will assist us to better understand you and your business so future newsletters contain the information, services and support you want and need.

Adapt, innovate, change

Help your business adapt to change
Enduring the last few years, it is clear that change is inevitable not only in day-to-day life but in business. It can happen gradually or quickly and without warning, so it is important to understand what is changing to help you adapt and make informed business decisions. To help you prepare and manage changes in and around your business, follow this step-by-step approach:

Step 1 – Prepare your business for change
Step 2 – Understand how to change
Step 3 – Manage change
Step 4 – Make change happen

Visit Business Queensland for the full step-by-step adapt and change process.

Digital transformation for licensees
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has launched a new service portal allowing industry licensees to access information and services at a time that works for them.

The first phase release is now available to the following licensees:

• real estate and resident letting agents
• motor dealers and field agents
• auctioneers and chattel auctioneers
• real estate and motor salesperson certificate holders
• debt collector sub-agent certificate holders
• security providers – class 1 or 2
• tattoo operators and tattooists

Licensees will need to link their Queensland Digital Identity account to the Fair Trading portal in the first instance. Once logged in, they can access information related to OFT’s services, access status updates, complete licence renewals, obtain copies of receipts, upload documents and view history of their activity at any time.

Other industry licensees can expect upgrades in future phases. Learn more information about OFT’s digital services on the Queensland Government website.

Ignite Ideas Fund Round 9 is open!
Queensland-based small to medium businesses can now apply for Ignite Ideas Fund Round 9. Grants of up to $200,000 (excluding GST) are available to commercialise highly innovative and new products or services that are at minimum viable product stage or beyond. You’ll also get access to additional business development support through the new Ignite+ program. Expressions of Interest close 10.00am (AEST) Thursday 7 July 2022. Submit your Expression of Interest now!

Workplace resilience and wellbeing courses
While focusing all your time, energy and attention on your business may seem like the right thing to do in these uncertain times, it's also essential that you take time to care for yourself. Staying well and becoming more resilient will increase the chances of success of your small business and will improve your life outside of work.

Short micro-credential courses are now available to support employers as part of the Back to Work program.

After completing the course, you will be able to:

• understand the different types and importance of resilience
• use strategies to build resilience in yourself and others
• use resilience planning to build resilience and wellbeing in the workplace
• understand the importance of resilience and wellbeing training and support in the workplace.

Take the time for your mind today and check out the Small Business Short Courses.

.au domain names have launched
Shorter and simpler domain names are now available with .au being launched for Australian web and email addresses (e.g. mybusinessname.au).

If your business has an existing eligible domain name such as .com.au and .net.au, you have until 20 September 2022 to apply for a priority hold for the exact match of your domain in .au. After this date, the exact match of a domain name will become available to the general public.

Learn more about managing .au and applying for a priority hold on the auDA website.

Queensland Small Business Hardship Appeal

Recent natural disasters and the pandemic have caused so much disruption among businesses in Queensland. To help support small businesses experiencing hardship due to things outside of their control, the Queensland Small Business Commissioner has partnered with GIVIT to launch the Queensland Small Business Hardship Appeal.

Whether it’s new tools for a tradie suffering from financial hardship, or furniture for a café that lost everything in the floods, these requests can be listed on GIVIT.org.au for generous Queenslanders to browse what is needed and donate.

If you’re a small business experiencing hardship, please contact 1300 312 344 to be connected with the Small Business Hardship Appeal partners.

If you’re a small business who wants to pledge your support for businesses experiencing hardship, you can nominate items needed or donate funds that businesses can use to get their business back up and running via givit.org.au/appeals/givit-together.

Looking back at 20 years of Mentoring for Growth

The Mentoring for Growth program is marking its 20th year in 2022. Our mentors are the lifeblood of the program – their combined knowledge and years’ of experience has helped to contribute to a strong Queensland economy.

The seed for the current program was planted back in 2001 by Dr Carrie Hillyard and following an initial pilot, it was rolled out across Queensland in 2002 and has since supported thousands of businesses.

Fast forward 20 years and Mentoring for Growth has been active in supporting small businesses impacted by COVID-19 and natural disasters. The program now also supports the needs of scaleup enterprises through the Mentoring for Advancing Champion Enterprises (ACE) services.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our Mentoring for Growth mentors, those who were there in the beginning, those actively involved now and the many who have been the backbone of the program over its years of operation.

Getting ready for the end of financial year

Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting has been expanded
The expansion of STP (also known as STP Phase 2) will reduce the reporting burden for employers who need to report information about their employees to multiple government agencies. Webinar recordings discussing the changes in detail as well as industry professionals providing practical examples and suggestions to help prepare, are available here.

To learn more or find other resources to help you understand the changes and prepare for STP reporting, visit the Single Touch Payroll site.

Debts on hold
From June 2022, the ATO will recommence offsetting any tax refunds or credits to pay off debts previously on hold. Some businesses may find that their tax refund is less than expected. A debt on hold is one that the ATO have not taken action to collect and is not visible on your account but can be re-raised if your circumstances change.

Businesses facing difficulty meeting their obligations are encouraged to contact the ATO or their registered tax professional to discuss help and assistance available.

Protect your business from phoenix operators
When businesses are deliberately liquidated, wound up or abandoned to avoid paying their debts, it can leave employees, sub-contractors and suppliers devastated. Look out for the warning signs that a business you’re working with could be engaging in illegal phoenix activity:
being asked to pay a different company to the one you received a quote from
company details on invoices or contracts changing partway through work
changes to the company directors and name, but the manager and staff remain the same.

For more information on what to look out for and how to protect your business, visit the ATO website.

Webinars to help you perform better
There are many online services and digital systems that can help you perform your business activities such as marketing, sales, accounting and reporting.

The ATO is offering two webinars to help you brush up on your skills:

• Digital options for your business: Join this 60-minute session to find out the benefits of digital systems and what systems are available for each area of your business operations.
• Connecting online with the ATO - Businesses: In this 60-minute session you will learn how to register, lodge and pay online for goods and services tax (GST), pay as you go withholding, pay as you go instalments, and more using Online services for business.

Register for key webinar topics for small business.

Resources

Injury Prevention and Management program
Join more than 2000 Queensland employers who have improved health and safety outcomes for their workers through the Injury Prevention and Management (IPaM) program. This free program helps eligible businesses to improve their health, safety and injury management performance and is a joint initiative delivered by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland and WorkCover Queensland.

Our expert advisors provide site and industry-specific insights, options and suggestions to achieve long lasting and sustainable safety processes in your workplace, and can support you through on-site consultations, specialist training for managers and staff, and access to tools and templates.

For more information about the program including success stories visit the IPaM website.

All Queenslanders now have access to an online licensing and permit tool
Since its launch last year, Business Launchpad has assisted more than 15,000 users in understanding and applying for the licences and permits they need to start, run and grow their businesses

Residential construction and food and beverage business owners and intenders from all local government areas in Queensland can now access the digital tool.

Business Launchpad can help you discover licences, permits and regulatory information from all levels of government, fill and save forms and track the progress of applications.

Visit Business Launchpad today to see if you have all the licences and permits you need for your business.

Stay connected

In addition to this newsletter, you can receive the latest information from the Queensland and Australian Governments through the Business Queensland website. You can also follow us through the Business Queensland Facebook page.