Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bill 2015
Wednesday 18 March 2015 @ 10.48 a.m. | Corporate & Regulatory | Trade & Commerce
Federal Minister for Small Business, Bruce Wilson, has released exposure draft legislation for the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bill 2015. The draft bill establishes the Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman as well as outlining the position’s functions and powers. The existing Small Business Commissioner position will be transformed into this new position.
Functions and Powers
The Ombudsman, as outlined by Mr. Wilson, will be a national advocate for small businesses and family enterprises as well as a concierge for dispute resolution. It will also provide limited dispute resolution services and assist the government in developing small business friendly policy and law.
The most important role of the Ombudsman will be as a single point of contact that can refer small businesses with an issue to the appropriate government agency. In this respect, the Ombudsman will act as a ‘concierge’ for those with difficulty navigating through the web of available government provided services.
Furthermore, upon request, the Ombudsman will also be able to provide limited dispute resolution measures. These powers do not extend to independent investigation of dispute between small businesses or any inherent power to compel involved parties to attend mediation. The dispute resolution process will be a voluntary one and both parties must agree to participate. To this extent the draft bill does not provide the Ombudsman with the ability to issue fines or other forms of punitive measures as, according to Mr. Wilson, this would be inconsistent the function of the position.
Despite not having the ability to conduct investigations into disputes between small businesses and family enterprise, the Ombudsman will nevertheless have the ability to conduct inquiries into how laws, policies and government practices affect small businesses, and how these might be improved. It will further have the power to compel a person to produce requested information. Non-compliance could result in a monetary penalty.
The Ombudsman will act independently and will be required to submit a written report to the Small Business Minister quarterly to outline the research it has conducted and inquiries made and details of any laws or policies that are having an adverse effect on small businesses.
Submissions
The exposure draft legislation and explanatory materials are available at the Treasury website for a consultation period ending on 7th April.
Peter Strong, executive director of the Council of Small Business of Australia, felt that the draft legislation fulfils many of the aims that he had been campaigning for in the past. Strong however also expressed his concern for the lack of a power to compel parties to mediation. He commented that this comes back to the skill of the Ombudsman in compelling people to come along to dispute resolutions.
TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products.
