February update from the Commissioner

This is our first newsletter for 2024 and we hope the year will be a positive one for small businesses in NSW. Our latest Business Momentum Survey Report highlights some of the challenges small businesses are currently facing.   

There have been important updates recently on a number of issues on which the Commission has been speaking up for small business.

The Commission has noted the crackdown on sales of illegal tobacco and vapes across Sydney. The sale of illegal product has many detrimental impacts, including undermining the sustainability of many small and regional businesses who comply with the law.

Recent changes to NSW Government procurement rules have made it easier for small businesses to compete for government contracts and get paid on time, issues the Commission has long championed. The Commission recently made a submission to a parliamentary inquiry into the procurement practices of Government agencies in NSW.  The submission examines measures to support small business participation, including the simplification of prequalification schemes. 

Following the Optus outage of November 2023 the Commission has also called for improved communication and user rights in a submission to the Federal Government review of the incident. The lack of timely information from Optus during the outage caused significant distress to small businesses and hindered their ability to mitigate the impacts, with many businesses suffering substantial financial loss.

We continue to pursue these and other issues in our support of small businesses in NSW.

Chris Lamont

NSW Small Business Commissioner