Palaszczuk Government boost for women in business

Minister for Small Business Leeanne Enoch marked International Women’s Day today reaffirming the Palaszczuk Government’s commitment to support women in small business.

Speaking at an Advancing Women in Business breakfast event today, Ms Enoch said nationally a growing number of women were operating businesses, from home-based businesses to heads of multinational corporations.

“Queensland has many inspiring business women who are leading the way for others to follow,” Ms Enoch said.

“Queensland’s Tracey Vieira, Marie Piccone and Dr Catherine Ball have all been recognised in the prestigious Telstra Businesswoman Awards and there are many more inspiring women making their mark with thriving businesses throughout the state.

“Nationally, 33 per cent of all businesses are run by women and the Palaszczuk Government is offering a suite of initiatives to help more women to realise their business dreams.

As part of this focus on women in business, the Office of Small Business will encourage more women to be involved in the Mentoring for Growth program as both mentors and participants.

“Networking can be vital to business operators and to assist women in business we will develop a network of contacts to share news and learn from each other,” Ms Enoch said.

“The network will include women’s networking groups, including groups that support regional and rural women, and groups that support Indigenous and culturally diverse women and industry groups.”

Throughout 2017, Queensland women in business success stories will be showcased to inspire and inform other business women.

“Talking with women in business across the state, there was feedback that the lack of confidence can be a key barrier for women. To help address this we will host a Women in Business Roundtable event focused on digging deeper into the issue of confidence to identify opportunities to support women in small business,” Ms Enoch said.

“We’re also paying close attention to the growing numbers of young women becoming small business owners. We see this group as the key to understanding how best to enable and empower future generations of women in business.”

For more information about how the Advancing Small Business Queensland Strategy is supporting women, visit https://www.dtesb.qld.gov.au/small-business.

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