Small Business

1367 The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay) (11 September 2019). How many complaints has the Small Business Commissioner received from small businesses in South Australia over the last 12 months?

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Innovation and Skills): I have been advised:

The Office of the Small Business Commissioner received 3,383 enquiries from small businesses during the period 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019 covering the Small Business Commissioner Act 2011, the Retail and Commercial Leases Act 1995, the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009, the Farm Debt Mediation Act 2018, the Local Government Act 1999, and general small business enquiries.

Not all of these inquiries were complaints, many of them are requesting general information in relation to starting or running a business or seeking advice on where to get further assistance.

The office handled 262 new formal cases in this period. These are official cases where there is a dispute of some sort between two businesses or with a business and state or local government body.

Matters that cannot be resolved at this stage are usually offered formal mediation before one of the commissioner's independent and accredited mediators. In the 2018-19 financial year, the office facilitated 27 formal mediations for disputing parties.