House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2) 54 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Estimates Replies Small Business Commissioner Small Business Commissioner In reply to Ms MICHAELS House of Assembly Enfield Small Business Commissioner In reply to Ms MICHAELS (Enfield) (23 November 2020). (Estimates Committee A) The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN House of Assembly Bragg Deputy Premier Attorney-General Minister for Planning and Local Government Small Business Commissioner The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning and Local Government): I have been advised: The table on page 23 of the annual report refers to enquires made under the Small Business Commissioner Act 2011which includes general enquires about small business issues or small business startups. The Small Business Commissioner advises that the drop in 'small business issues' enquiries between April and June 2020 could be accounted to the COVID-19 pandemic where small businesses were experiencing hardship. These inquires have been recorded under the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act 2020. The below table shows the total number of enquiries received under each relevant Act. It is evident that the number of inquiries under the Small Business Commissioner Act 2011 has decreased from the previous year, however enquiries under the Retail and Commercial Leases Act 1995 have significantly increased and there were 241 inquiries under the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act 2020. Inquiries by Act 2019-20 2018-19 Small Business Commissioner Act 2011 1,632 (42.08 per cent) 1,659 (49 per cent) Retail and Commercial Leases Act 1995 1,583 (40.82 per cent) 1,187 (35 per cent) Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 116 (2.99 per cent) 132 (4 per cent) COVID-19 Emergency Response Act 2020 241 (6.21 per cent) - Farm Debt Mediation 2018 63(1.62 per cent) 42(1.3 per cent) Local Government Act 1999 2 (0.05 per cent) 15 (0.4 per cent) Late Payment of Government Debts (Interest) Act 2013 2 (0.05 per cent) - Other jurisdictions 239 (6.16 per cent) 348 (10.3 per cent) TOTAL 3,878 3,383