Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Education and Employment, I would like to present the committee's report entitled Getting business booming, together with the minutes of proceedings and evidence received by the committee.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—On behalf of the aforementioned committee on education and employment, I present the report of the committee's inquiry into the factors that discourage job creation and employment by private sector small business.

On 23 March 2015, the Minister for Employment, Senator the Hon. Eric Abetz, asked the committee to inquire into and report on matters that inhibit or discourage job creation and employment by small businesses in the private sector and/or provide disincentives to individuals from working for such businesses. The committee sought and received submissions from a range of stakeholders including small businesses, peak industry and union representatives and individuals, who all identified a variety of issues relevant to those terms of reference.

It is an article of faith on this side of the House that small business is the engine room of the Australian economy and that it drives national prosperity. Small businesses are 96 per cent of all business, employing 45 per cent of the Australian workforce. That is 4.5 million Australians, and they produce over $330 billion of national economic output per annum.

The report I present today sets out many of the positive initiatives that the coalition government has implemented since election in 2013 to improve the capacity of small business to employ. In summary, red tape has been cut. Compliance processes for small business, particularly in superannuation, taxation and employment standards, have been streamlined. The tax burden on small business has been reduced. Wage subsidies are in place to help people over 50 find work. Programs have been introduced to assist disadvantaged groups into employment also. There has been a significant investment in programs to develop the quality of job seekers through work experience opportunities and apprenticeships.

These are all important practical measures demonstrating the government's commitment to small business growth and employment. I should note also that the government's National Innovation and Science Agenda. It is one of those opportunities for small business to grow, invest and employ.

Notwithstanding the significant progress that this government has made to date, the report still recognises there are some specific areas for improvement. They are addressed in several of the report's recommendations, but I want to highlight three.

The first is the committee's proposal that a framework is established to develop a single decision tool to help small business correctly identify when a worker is an employee or a contractor.

Second, the committee recommends the Minister for Employment—together with Safe Work Australia—formulate proposals to take to COAG that will eliminate the requirement for a small business operating in multiple jurisdictions to have to engage with multiple workers' compensation schemes.

Third, the committee recommends that the Productivity Commission investigate the impact on small business of lowering the GST threshold, particularly on the importation of physical goods, and undertake regular cost-effectiveness research on the impact of GST threshold reduction.

The committee also makes recommendations in this report to assist disadvantaged job seekers find employment in the small business sector. It recommends that the federal Department of Employment work with jobactive providers to ensure that ancillary service providers might also receive Australian government funding for the assistance they provide in placing jobactive clients into employment.

We recommend that the Australian small business ombudsman, small business commissioners, chambers of commerce, business enterprise centres and peak small business organisations develop strategies to promote to small business the benefits of workers coming from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

The committee recommends that the Australian government reassess the policy case for taxing the redundancy payouts of persons over the age of 65 to encourage people to stay in the workforce.

Taken together, the committee has 14 targeted recommendations, which, if properly implemented, will ensure that Australian small business will continue to grow and employ freely. To the entrepreneurial women and men of Australian small businesses, I want to say that the Australian government is here to support you and to encourage you to invest and employ your high-quality staff.

My thanks go to the Deputy Chair, the Hon. Alannah MacTiernan MP, and to each of my colleagues on the committee, including the previous Chair, Mr Ewen Jones MP, for their hard work and professionalism. Thanks are also extended to the inquiry participants—individuals and organisations—which took the time to write submissions and speak to the committee. These participants provided invaluable insight into the small business environment and the issues that are faced by them on the ground, in this nation, every day. I commend this report to the House.

I move:

That the House take note of the report.

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