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Despite their ventures being the backbone of the Australian economy, small and medium business owners believe the government does not support their business needs, new research has found.
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Are federal policies working against small businesses?
22 November 2019
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8 minute read
Results from Sensis Business Index revealed small business owners actually believe policies are hurting them, with one in four saying they think the federal government’s policies “are working against their interest”.
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Sensis CEO John Allan noted this is the first time the index has seen an upward trend in the number of SMB owners who believe federal government policies are working against them.
“Over the years, we have seen a growing perception among SMBs that federal government policies do not affect them. This change in sentiment may be small but is a significant trend,” Mr Allan said.
The national drop in support for federal government policies is led by South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, falling by 30, 29 and 28 per cent, respectively.
Conversely, support from Queensland SMBs has seen the most positive change, growing by 5 per cent from last quarter to 36 per cent. Positive sentiment across all other states held steady quarter on quarter, except for Western Australia which dropped by 5 per cent.
State governments are also not supportive of small business, according to the research, with 38 per cent of business owners believing the state and territory government policies have no impact.
“Whether this belief is right or wrong, the figures show a clear need for improvement in how state and territory governments are engaging with the small business community and communicating their efforts to support local small business owners through policy,” Mr Allan said.
A fall in government support coincides with weakening economic conditions, with almost half of the respondents believing the economy is at a standstill, while 39 per cent of businesses believe it’s slowing.
Policies such as the royal commission into the banking sector have had a negative impact on small businesses, which are finding it difficult to access credit.
“Small businesses nationally are facing a worsening credit squeeze as banks continue to react to the intense scrutiny and criticism of the royal commission. Lenders are becoming increasingly risk-averse and introducing more onerous checks on borrowers, which means SMBs are being unfairly caught in the fallout from disciplinary action on the banks,” Mr Allan concluded.
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