Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I would like to thank all those senators who have contributed to this debate. Our government is very serious about supporting small business as the engine room of our economy, and this proposed legislation, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bill 2015 and the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2015, is another manifestation of that serious commitment. In 2013 the government announced that it would transform the current position of Australian Small Business Commissioner into one with real power to assist small business and family enterprises, and the current bills deliver on that commitment.

The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bill 2015 will create an ombudsman with two key functions: and advocacy function and an assistance function. Through these functions the ombudsman will be a Commonwealth-wide advocate for small business and family enterprises, a concierge for dispute resolution who will also offer an outsourced alternative dispute resolution service, and a contributor to making Commonwealth laws and regulations more small business friendly.

In relation to the advocacy function, part 3 of the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bill will allow the ombudsman to conduct inquiries for the purpose of advocating to government on behalf of small businesses and family enterprises. Inquiries may be undertaken on the ombudsman's own initiative or on referral from the minister. Importantly, for the purpose of giving the ombudsman real power, the legislation will allow the ombudsman to require a person or entity to produce information and documents for the purposes of an inquiry. Noncompliance with such requests may attract a penalty.

The ombudsman's advocacy role will contribute to making Commonwealth laws and regulations more small business friendly. This forms part of the Australian government's general deregulation agenda. Regulatory compliance costs as estimated by the Treasury in 2014 could be as high as five per cent of gross domestic product. To assist with getting rid of inefficient regulation and to prevent it from being imposed in the first place, the ombudsman will provide advice on legislation, draft legislation and regulatory practices. The ombudsman will thus be a strong and influential advocate for the interests of small business and family enterprises being at the forefront of policy and program design. The ombudsman will also promote best practice interactions, which could involve the ombudsman recommending changes in practices by Commonwealth government agencies.

Naturally, the ombudsman will be impartial, but the ombudsman must also be seen to be impartial. Therefore, because the ombudsman will advocate particular positions in relation to various issues, the ombudsman may not personally take any part in any alternative dispute resolution processes.

In relation to the assistance function, under part 4 of the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bill, the ombudsman may provide assistance in relation to requests. It is anticipated that, in the majority of cases, the ombudsman will transfer requests to other officials under whose jurisdiction the requests fall. The various levels of government—Commonwealth, state, territory and local—and the agencies within those levels often appear as a maze to those in the private sector. Therefore, the ombudsman's concierge function will assist by guiding small businesses and family enterprises to the relevant agencies. In some cases the ombudsman may refer requests for assistance to the ombudsman's own outsourced alternative dispute resolution service.

The scope of the ombudsman has been deliberately designed to be very broad. There is therefore a very broad definition of both a 'family enterprise' and a 'small business' as being a business with fewer than 100 employees or with revenue under $5 million in the previous financial year. Despite this very broad definition, there are naturally restrictions on the ombudsman's operation. The Commonwealth Constitution, for example, contains no power which would allow the ombudsman, in most cases, to deal with disputes between two unincorporated entities in the one state. In addition to such constitutional restrictions, the ombudsman will also not duplicate the functions of any other official, for the simple reason that doing so would be a waste of public money. The ombudsman therefore will work cooperatively with other officials and complement their existing services—thus providing more services to small businesses and family enterprises.

The government acknowledges the feedback provided on the ombudsman through an extensive consultation process, consultation which has included public feedback on a government discussion paper and draft legislation and responses to a committee inquiry. In relation to recent commentary on the ombudsman, proposed section 95 of the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bill requires that a review of the ombudsman's assistance function be conducted no later than 30 June 2017, with further reviews at intervals of not more than four years. The first review represents a good opportunity not only to review the assistance function as required by this bill but also to consider other matters raised before the Senate. This includes comments provided in the inquiry report of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee.

The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2015 ensures that the ombudsman can work collaboratively with the Commonwealth Ombudsman by allowing the Commonwealth Ombudsman to transfer matters to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman.

These bills fulfil an election commitment and, moreover, they demonstrate the importance of small businesses and family enterprises to Australia. I commend these bills to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bills read a second time.