June 2024 update from the Commissioner

This week, the NSW State Budget 2024-25 highlighted the ongoing challenges, such as rising costs and weaker demand affecting small businesses. I encourage businesses to review key announcements in the Budget and how they may impact and assist your business. 

As June draws to a close and the end of the financial year upon us, small businesses will be busy preparing for tax time and requirements for FY 24/25. Upcoming changes to the PAYG withholding thresholds will take effect from July 1 and it’s also a crucial time to remain vigilant against potential scams. 

My office is committed to providing practical advice and assistance to support you and your small business. In our ongoing efforts the Commission recently launched our Advocacy Services Guide. The guide explains how we may be able to assist in advocating on your behalf.

Part of our current work in the advocacy space is an assessment of your experience with regulation and how government consults in developing regulation impacting small business. We are interested in views on the impact of specific regulation and government regulation making processes.  Please consider providing feedback to our review which will develop recommendations aimed at reducing red tape and improving regulation making processes to better meet the needs of NSW small businesses. 

I recently sat down with Luke Achterstraat, CEO of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) to discuss current issues for small business. I’d encourage you to listen to the latest episode of Talking Business  where Luke shares his journey from founding a small business to leading COSBOA, emphasising the importance of advocacy and the unique challenges small businesses face. 

As we look towards October, I'm excited to share the dates and venues for our upcoming Small Business Month Expos across New South Wales. These events will offer small business owners and their teams an excellent opportunity to network with government agencies and large organisations, connect with peers, and acquire new knowledge and skills.