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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-02-07 Daily Xml
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SMALL BUSINESS COMMISSIONER

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (15:09): My question is to the Minister for Small Business. Can the minister inform the house of the progress of the Office of the Small Business Commissioner?

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland—Minister for Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade, Minister for Small Business) (15:09): I would like to thank the honourable member for his question, and I would also like to take this opportunity to commend the former minister for his great work in establishing the Office of the Small Business Commissioner. It's an important thing in the progress of business in this state.

As members would be aware, the South Australian parliament passed legislation in 2011 to establish the Office of the Small Business Commissioner to contribute to the creation of a level playing field for small businesses in South Australia. The Office of the Small Business Commissioner was created to be an independent statutory officeholder with responsibility for facilitating the resolution of disputes between small businesses, local and state government bodies.

The office provides services at minimal cost in business-to-business and business-to-state and local government disputes across the state. I am pleased to inform the house that the results to date have been very promising. From March 2012 to 29 January 2013, there have been a total of 4,203 inquiries. In terms of cases or disputes alone, I can inform the house that as of 31 January this year, the Office of the Small Business Commissioner has received 339 cases, and 261 of these cases have been completed.

This is great news for small business owners and operators. It means they can get on with the job of contributing to our state's economy without getting bogged down in what can often be expensive and drawn out disputes. The commissioner and his office are also involved in a wide range of other areas to support business and have travelled widely across the state to connect with businesses and community leaders in all parts of South Australia.

Work is also underway to further provide businesses with an additional range of information, both to inform their decision-making and to help reduce disputes which are costly and time consuming and cause significant distress. The office's website is seeing increasing hits, and the mobile or tablet version of the website has also been set up to maximise access.

The commissioner is currently working on an inquiry into inset or embedded electricity networks announced by the Premier and the Minister for Energy late last year—another excellent initiative. This inquiry aims to gain a clear understanding of the ways in which embedded electricity networks aim to operate in South Australia. The inquiry will look at network arrangements and the different methods used to determine the power prices charged to business operators as well as any anti-competitive behaviour.

I am confident that 2013 will see the commission go from strength to strength, and I strongly encourage all small business owners to call or contact the Office of the Small Business Commissioner if they are having difficulties resolving a dispute. The Office of the Small Business Commissioner can be contacted on a toll-free number, 1800 072 722, or by email at sasbc@sa.gov.au (I think the member for Waite might have got mildly excited just then), or the website at sasbc.sa.gov.au.

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