Originally published in The Advertiser

Opinion piece published in the Herald Sun, 25 August 2022.

Australian small businesses can now register a domain name of .au, allowing the .com, .net or .org to be dropped from your internet address (this means shoes.com.au can become shoes.au).

These shorter Australian domain names are currently reserved for businesses who already use the relevant com.au, net.au or org.au addresses until 20 September 2022.

As websites are important to many small businesses, ASBFEO wants to help you understand how this change could impact your business.

It takes quite the chocolatier to create all the magic of Easter – without the bunny.

But that’s what Stuart and his team at Enigma Fine Chocolates have achieved, as customers – eager to indulge in handmade artisan truffles – stream through the doors of the Canberra store ahead of the Easter holiday season.

Bruce Billson, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman sat down with Nick Fox, Deloitte’s Payment Times Reporting Lead to discuss the recent release of the first Payment Times Reporting Register.

Below is a summary of the discussion:

In a move that has been welcomed by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, South Australia and Victoria will be the first states to implement the Automatic Mutual Recognition Scheme. The scheme removes the need for tradespersons and professionals to apply and pay for additional licenses to work across state borders.

Do you have a natural disaster preparedness or resilience story you want to share, or an idea that will assist the small business community?

ASBFEO is inviting small businesses across Australia who have been impacted by natural disaster to complete the following survey.

The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson has urged the Federal Government and regulators to consider the reactivation of temporary insolvency protections, to support small and family businesses doing it tough in lockdown.

Mr Billson says the re-introduction of measures, such as the extension to existing safe harbour provisions, would provide temporary additional protections for small and family businesses that may be trading insolvent due to lockdown trading restrictions.

A national awareness campaign about a free tailored mental health support service for small business owners has begun, amid new research revealing the emotional toll on small business owners during the past year.

The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson welcomes the Government’s commitment to lowering costs for businesses through least cost routing.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has released the Payments System Review which assessed the adequacy of the current regulatory framework.

“The review recognised that there are regulatory gaps and reform is needed to ensure the system reflects rapid technological change,” Mr Billson says.