Support for SME mental health remains strong, funding extended

Designed to manage work and financial stress, exhaustion, burnout and emotions that could be heightened by owning a small business, the program has been used by approximately 10,000 business owners since its launch in 2021.

Mental health continues to be a significant and critical issue in Australia, and the stress of business ownership could cause or exacerbate these issues. Personal guarantees, statutory liabilities, volatile cash flow and increasing regulatory pressures haunt owners, and feelings of overwhelm could quickly deteriorate, forming a destructive pattern that is hard to break.

ABRT chair Eddie Griffith commented that business owners rarely sought help when “genuine turnaround options” were viable.

He added: “Beyond Blue’s NASBO provides a confidential pathway for owners to come forward early and discuss their business concerns.” 

ABRT partnered with Beyond Blue to produce an integrated approach that targeted both business and mental health concerns. Advocating for early collaboration with professional advisers was key to this support and, according to the NFP, was central to wider goals of business recovery and long-term viability.

It also defined financial clarity, compliance and structured advice as central themes of NewAccess for Small Businesses.

This would target an ongoing structural constraint for small business owners. When trading conditions tighten, owners often sacrifice advisory meetings for the sake of revenue and immediate cash management. Advisers are often left with incomplete or out-of-date information, delaying risk identification and compromising guidance.

When experiencing a mental health crisis, issues such as decision paralysis, regulatory fear, isolation and loss of confidence could cause issues with a small business and vice versa. The support, the ARBT affirmed, functions as a circuit breaker for these symptoms, enabling owners the time and space to recover and seek advisory support. This has already been actioned by accountants and advisers to identify client issues and intervene earlier through NASBO.

And the proof is in the statistical pudding. Since its launch, 76 per cent of users reported clinical improvements in anxiety and/ or depression, 91 per cent felt more productive and better equipped for future challenges, and 96 per cent felt more confident handling mental health when issues arose.

NASBO has been able to clarify the pathways for accountants and SME advisers, allowing earlier disclosure of issues, reinforcing their role in recovery, facilitating easier communication pathways with better-positioned clients, identifying common patterns more clearly and being able to preserve enterprise value, employment and tax base.

While ARBT clarified that these improvements couldn’t remove structural insolvency drivers, it stabilised the decision maker, and, by doing so, made the work easier.