The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) has welcomed the Productivity Commission’s call for targeted financial incentives to encourage work-related training in the small business sector, alongside new advisory services to help employers take up the opportunities.
COSBOA Chair Matthew Addison said small businesses, as the country’s largest employer, play a vital role in training, upskilling and reskilling the workforce. He said incentives aimed at lowering the financial barriers to employee education could drive growth and innovation.
“Small businesses want to invest in training that enhances their operations and offering, empowers their employees and accelerates adoption of new technologies. While small businesses offer non-formal learning opportunities every day, formalised training can be expensive and time consuming, and for small businesses that can be very hard to absorb,” Mr Addison said.
He said targeted, incentivised training would help employers offer the right education to staff, increase specialised skills and improve service offerings.
COSBOA has also welcomed the PC’s rejection of a return to training levies, scrapped in 1996, noting that such levies impose a “significant administrative and cost burden” on small businesses.
Mr Addison said the proposed advisory services would provide a one-stop shop for information and support, complementing COSBOA’s own programs, including the Australian Government Cyber Wardens and Small Business Peak initiatives.
The PC’s recommendations also include streamlining qualification requirements between states, which Mr Addison said could help address skills shortages.
“Currently, across a range of professions, there are excessive occupational entry requirements. For example, a qualified hairdresser from Queensland has to prove they’re experienced enough to work in NSW, and if you’re a motor vehicle repairer from South Australia, there are barriers to entry to work in Western Australia,” he said.
“Mutual recognition of qualifications from state-to-state would help fill skilled job vacancies and enable small businesses to hire where and when they need.”
He said strengthening training opportunities should be a priority in the Economic Reform Roundtable.
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