Page 3398 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 19 August 2009
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delivered in partnership with the Australian Information Industry Association. The lighthouse innovation and commercialisation centre is delivered in a funding partnership with Epicorp. The ACT Exporters Network is delivered in partnership with the Canberra Business Council. All of these relationships are strong and productive.
Of course, no government can possibly be in conversation with each and every business. There are many small and micro businesses that choose, for one reason or another, not to belong to peak industry bodies. To be frank, many of them are probably quite happy to have minimal contact with bureaucracy and government. But that does not mean that the government is content to assume that everything is all right. We need to create opportunities for all sections of the private sector to be heard, so that the government can better understand the range of needs and concerns.
Here in the ACT, as in most places, it is small, micro and home-based businesses that government is least formally engaged with. That is why the Chief Minister has announced that we will trial a new engagement model called the Small and Micro Business Forum.
As Ms Burch indicated, small businesses represent nine out of every 10 private sector entities in the territory. Of the 24,000 small businesses in the ACT, around 13,000 are home based or non-employing. They are typically businesses that do not have the capacity, time or wherewithal to engage directly with governments. Yet there is no doubt that these businesses are crucial to the local economy.
The Small and Micro Business Forum initiative, which will be tested in conjunction with this year’s business in focus month, is designed to encourage an open conversation between government and small and micro businesses. The forum will be open to all small and micro business owners across the territory.
The government encourages these businesspeople who have a need or desire to get a message to government to take the few hours needed to attend the forum. We are hopeful that this forum will bring to the attention of government and senior officers in ACT government agencies some of the issues that may not easily reach the surface or get onto government’s agenda. They may be matters that have an impact on the running of small businesses yet are not obvious to those most intimately concerned. Of course, I will not be able to promise—nor can anyone in the government—that everything can be fixed on the spot, but we can guarantee that the issues raised and the ideas put forward will get to the right people in government and that the issues raised will be heard.
The forum is part of a trial. The government is hopeful of a good roll-up and some positive outcomes. There is certainly the hope that there will be future forums and that people will benefit from the lessons learnt at the inaugural event. An important component of the forum will be the development of mechanisms to feed back to participants any progress on matters arising from the forum. Those channels will be agreed in consultation with participants.
Of course, the forum is just one of 70 events on offer as part of September’s business in focus month—again, an example of the government working closely with the
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