Powering small business: Queensland’s new $250 million plan for golden decade of growth

• The Miles Government’s new Queensland Small Business Strategy: powering small business provides a $250 million boost to the opportunities, capability, and diversity of Queensland’s small business sector.
• The new plan for the future will deliver a range of actions over three years to support and enable small businesses to thrive and combat the pressures associated with the cost-of-doing business.
• Queensland enjoyed the strongest growth in small businesses in the nation, with latest figures showing an increase of almost 10,000.

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Launched today in Cairns at the Queensland Small Business Friendly Conference, the Miles Labor Government’s new Queensland Small Business Strategy will ensure Queensland’s small businesses can continue to be innovative, adapt, grow, and succeed.

With economists acknowledging that small and medium-sized businesses are hit hardest with changes in consumer spending under national cost-of-living pressures, the new strategy is a $250 million war chest of support when they need it most.

The new strategy helps to lower costs and ease national costs of living pressures on small business, including with direct grant support, as well as boosting productivity, and commits new funding for free financial counsellors.

Available throughout Queensland, free financial counselling and wellness coaching service will continue to help small business owners tackle challenges and find solutions with free, and one-on-one, targeted support.

It will also help maximise procurement and supply chain opportunities for the over 200,000 small construction, technical professional, and real estate businesses that can benefit from Queensland’s infrastructure Big Build of housing, energy, hospitals, schools, and transport.

The new strategy has 20 key actions over three years to power small businesses to take full advantage of the record investment that is occurring in Queensland, including simplifying procurement processes for smaller projects, a small business action plan, and the appointment of a dedicated Small Business Procurement Advisor.

The strategy is designed to lower operating costs, as well as increase opportunities, build business resilience and capability, and grow diversity in the sector through:

• additional funding for grants to support businesses to implement workforce solutions
• new investment in cybersecurity support and safer retail precincts
• continuation of the $650 rebate on electricity bills for eligible small businesses
• assistance to help small businesses recover from natural disaster events, including through wellness coaching and financial counselling
• continuation of our successful small business grants program
• expanded access to mentoring and upskilling for Indigenous businesses
• access to free training under the Free TAFE program to ensure Queenslanders working in small businesses have the skills they need to succeed and grow.

Quotes attributable to the Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development Lance McCallum:

"Our small businesses are the engine room of the economy, the heart and soul of our communities, and there is no better place in the country to be a small business owner, operator, or worker than Queensland.

"This new plan for the future will support small business by addressing the key challenges they face including operating costs and increasing the skills and capabilities of small business owners and their workforce to enable them to innovate, adapt, grow, and thrive.

"While this strategy is for the owners and operators of the more than 480,000 Queensland small businesses, it will also help to support the jobs of more than one million Queenslanders.

"The new Miles Labor Government is supporting and powering small businesses in ways the LNP simply cannot.

"We’re lowering energy costs through rebates, supporting them to save money on energy, water, and waste, and providing Free TAFE to cut training costs for Queensland workers.

"We can thank small businesses – our local tradies, hairdressers, and cafe owners – for growing our economy and supporting our regions and local communities.”

Quotes attributable to Heidi Cooper, CEO Business Chamber Queensland

“Queensland small businesses are the entrepreneurs, the risk takers, the employers, the lifeblood of the economy and the heart of our communities. 

“It is an important time for business in Queensland and it is essential that small businesses are supported to meet current day challenges while also ensuring the state’s business community has the confidence it needs to capitalise on the opportunities ahead in our state. 

“We know that businesses are looking for long-term, practical solutions for improving ongoing workforce challenges, reducing historically high operating costs and overcoming mounting regulatory burden, alongside improvements in the state’s business operating environment to increase productivity and restore confidence.

“We’re pleased to see many of our recommendations to address the mounting pressure on the small business community forming part of the new Queensland Small Business Strategy.

“There is enormous opportunity ahead in our state and improved procurement and grants processes to ensure all businesses can take up those opportunities, as well as commitments to on-time payments, are welcome.  

“The Chamber’s ecoBiz and Workforce Evolve programs are great examples of how the government can work in partnership with industry to drive better business outcomes, and we’re pleased to see the government’s ongoing commitment to these initiatives to improve business sustainability and grow diverse, productive workplaces.

Quotes attributable to Dominique Lamb, Queensland Small Business Commissioner

“There has never been a better time to support small businesses when it comes to supporting them to make healthier financial decisions.

“The Small Business Financial Counsellors program is worth its weight in gold, and we are incredibly pleased to see an ongoing commitment to providing small business with this kind of support.

“The regional activation program is set to revitalise and assist local governments across the state, work hand in hand with small business to right size solutions for regional, remote and rural locations.”

Further information:

Queensland’s small businesses employ more than one million people, or around 42 per cent of the private sector workforce.

More than 78,000 new small businesses were launched in Queensland in 2022-23, with over 482,000 small businesses now calling Queensland home.

Each year, small businesses contribute around $117 billion to Queensland’s economy.

The top five small business sectors in Queensland are:

• construction
• professional, scientific and technical
• rental hiring and real estate
• agriculture, forestry and fishing
• health care and social assistance.

Almost 2,000 small businesses and over 30 key stakeholders, including industry representatives and peak bodies, provided input into the Queensland Small Business Strategy 2024-27.

For more information visit: www.qld.gov.au/small-business-strategy

ENDS

Media contact: Andrew Churchill 0472 645 871