Originally published in The Canberra Times

By Bruce Billson

It's been just over a week since the government's Economic Reform Roundtable was held.

Was the three-day event productive? I'd say yes. There was lots of discussion and views being put around the table. There was a clear recognition of the need to ease the crippling regulatory burden and restoring incentives to take risk, invest and innovate.

Lighter on were outcomes that represented solid commitments to "energise enterprise" - the kind of specific undertakings small and family business people can grasp on to as practical and immediate action to improve challenging operating conditions.

Instead, and to the credit of the Treasurer and his hosting dexterity, a series of agreed objectives titled "reform directions" emerged, along with intentions to accelerate a number of existing initiatives already in train. Not a bad outcome after what reports suggested was a particular absence of consensus right up until late on the third and final day.

Many of the reform directions encouragingly speak to what small business wants to see. Worthwhile reform objectives for small businesses include:

• Better (or 'right-sized') regulation;
• a better (and more small business-supporting) tax system;
• deciding how to make (and support the deployment of) AI (and other digital capabilities) as a national priority;
• attracting capital (better access to finance) and deploying investment;
• building a skilled and adaptable workforce (to the benefit of smaller workplaces);
• modernising government services (and improving access to support resources): and
• building more homes, more quickly (particularly in regions where a lack of housing is adding to workforce shortages).

I have added the bracketed text to illustrate what small business actually hopes will come out of the work that follows as government seeks to progress these objectives.

Helpfully, this public commitment to reform directions will invite vocal discussion about implementation plans, practical actions and progress signposts. It is a meaningful advance on small business advocates having to call for attention to be given to these critical objectives. It will now be questions about "How is it going?" instead of calls for "How 'bout recognising the need for attention and action here?".

A laser-like focus on the opportunities and implications of reform for small business makes sense. Small businesses are 98 per cent of all businesses in Australia and 94 per cent of the employing workplaces where productivity gains will actually come to life.

Coincidentally, the roundtable was held the same week as the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia's National Small Business Summit and at this policy gathering, the clarion call was to make sure small business is at the heart of policy discussions and reform initiatives.

Summit presenters and participants focused on how to boost national productivity by practical and achievable policy action, a simplified and right-sized regulatory environment, and program approaches that better support small businesses.

It was pleasing that so many ideas echoed or resonated with the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman's (ASBFEO) 14 steps to "energise enterprise" released over a year ago.

It was clear that for too many small businesses, trying to find available helpful resources and support was like trying to find something in a snowstorm. It's a stark reminder that even with the best intentions of government, regulators, department and trusted advisers, we may not hit the mark. Many small business owners prefer support and assistance being delivered in person or one-on-one, over online access to help.

The summit also featured female entrepreneurs - trailblazers, truly, because too don't get the equity and debt finance or program support they need. Some data sets fail to adequately 'see' early-stage women-owned businesses to attract policy attention.

At ASBFEO, we're doing some research to showcase where future enterprises grow from and how best to support different enterprise journeys.

Beyond proper recognition of all and less well-seen small businesses, there is the need to acknowledge that enterprising women and men are not bathing in rivers of gold.

In the last available full year of tax reporting, 45 per cent of small business companies were not profitable, while 75 per cent of independent contractors and self-employed working full-time to derive their livelihoods earned below the average private sector full-time weekly earnings - and 55 per cent of those with 1-19 employees.

Thankfully, small business ownership offers so much more than a livelihood. The pursuit of a passion, a purposeful endeavour, more control over the "earning" component of life, identity, providing opportunities for yourself and others, contributing to your community - all worthy and meaningful motivations.

But we do need to continue to ask, have we got the risk-reward balance right? What incentivises the next generation of entrepreneurs with that sparkle in the eye and fire in the belly? How do we best sustain the relentless determination and drive to create their own opportunities and for others?

We need to nourish and encourage enterprise, not make things unintentionally complex, burdensome or unattractive. What is the impact of the growing burden of regulatory responsibilities and a sharpening in consequence for missteps?

Just last week alone, the new right to disconnect laws began to apply to small employers; Australia Post suspended parcel deliveries to the US after US government changes decided that even low-value parcels for American customers can only enter with the verified payment of ever-changing tariffs; and small businesses were asked to consider the impact of a proposed non-compete clause restrictions, a new mandate on essential businesses to accept cash and foreshadowed changes to merchant card payment and surcharging rules.

New climate reporting rules aimed at big businesses are producing cascading requirements on small business suppliers. This kind of business-to-business imposed "white tape" has to be on the table for discussion when exploring how to lift the compliance burden on small business and the need for right-sized regulation.

These add to the heavy mental load on so many small business owners already under the pump.

While our recent ASBFEO Pulse detected a modest uptick in this health check on small businesses in the last quarter, not enough are thriving. Too many are barely surviving, and recent CreditorWatch data reveals a disturbing number of small business insolvencies.

With all this talk of sluggish growth and boosting productivity, the Economic Reform Roundtable's reform directions hold out some promise. Progressing them needs to start with what's most supportive and most helpful for the almost 98 per cent of all businesses in Australia - small business.