Palaszczuk Government making it easier to do business in Queensland

In an Australian first, the Palaszczuk Government will work with small business owners to develop Business Impact Statements that inform government decision-making.

Minister for Small Business Leeanne Enoch today (Tuesday) announced the Palaszczuk Government will adopt international best practice approaches to considering the impact of regulation on small business.

“This government will work with the small business sector to develop Business Impact Statements that will capture the impacts of government decisions on small business,” Ms Enoch said.

“The Palaszczuk Government will establish small business consultation panels that will provide government departments with easier access to experienced small business owners and operators when developing policy and legislation.

“These panels of small business owners and operators will play an important role in the development of policy and legislation by providing departments with practical feedback that will inform decision making.

“Queensland will be the first state in Australia to establish panels of small business owners and operators for this purpose.

“The Business Impact Statement is based on international best practice approaches and is a result of the work being driven by the Queensland Small Business Advisory Council, which I chair, and the Better Regulation Taskforce.

“With Queensland business confidence at its highest level in years and the number of small businesses in the state continuing to grow, we are making sure our regulatory environment is fair and balanced to support small business to start, grow and employ.”

Ms Enoch said the Palaszczuk Government will also develop an online assessment tool that will be available on Business Queensland alongside the suite of information, tools and services currently available for small business.

“Business Queensland is making it easier to do business and delivers more than 1500 services from 15 Queensland Government departments,” she said.

“In the past 12 months, 4.7 million customers used the site, with 64 per cent of users saying it saved them time or money.

“The introduction of the Business Impact Statement confirms the Palaszczuk Government’s commitment to making it easier to do business in Queensland.”

Further activities being implemented to improve the regulatory environment include:

• Ongoing implementation of the government’s response to the Red Tape Reduction Advisory Council 2016 Report.
• Reviews of the regulatory environment for eco-tourism, live music entertainment and startup sectors by the Better Regulation Taskforce
• Assessment of Queensland’s entrepreneurial pipeline for artisan food and beverage producers
• Active participation in the National Business Simplification Initiative
• Improved access to online services to save small businesses time and money, including Business Queensland and the use of smartforms, which both continue to grow in use.

ENDS

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