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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-23 Daily Xml
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Women in Business

S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (14:28): My question is to the Minister for Small and Family Business. Can the minister update the state on how—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

S.E. ANDREWS: Can the minister provide an update on how the state government is supporting women in business?

The Hon. A. MICHAELS (Enfield—Minister for Small and Family Business, Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs, Minister for Arts) (14:28): I want to thank the member for Gibson for her question and for her support of female business owners in her electorate of Gibson, and for taking me around last year to meet a number of them. As you are aware, Mr Speaker, I started my own law firm eight years ago. As a woman running that business, I faced certain challenges and now I know, after some very extensive consultation with the small business community that we undertook through the last half of last year, that I was not alone in some of those challenges.

We did undertake some extensive small business consultation when we set up the Office of Small and Family Business and we found that almost 40 per cent of female respondents through that process experienced barriers, including having difficulty accessing capital, building their networks and undertaking upskilling opportunities, as well as the very difficult juggle between work and caring responsibilities that I definitely faced.

What we have done is very promptly rolled out our Women in Business Program. Our $4 million election commitment that we went to the 2022 election with has been rolled out. We have two parts of the program: the Foundations Program for people wanting to start their businesses or the early stage or micro businesses; and Behind Closed Doors is the partner for our second program with more extensive businesses wanting to grow.

What we have done with the Behind Closed Doors partnership is we have had the first 38 women start their journey in the last couple of weeks. We had an exciting announcement, where we announced the successful applicants. That was independently assessed by a panel of judges. With a significant number of applicants, it was a fairly difficult selection process for that panel—I can attest to that. I saw the breadth of talent of those female-owned businesses that applied for that particular program.

The successful applicants were from a number of industries: mining, finance, health, real estate, food and wine, manufacturing, and professional services. These are leaders of high-growth businesses that now have access to expert mentoring and training to take their ventures to the next level.

Some of the women that I met at the announcement a couple of weeks ago include Discount Party Supplies CEO and founder, Kirsty Chapman-Smith, who has done an extraordinary job with a national business now, selling party supplies across the country. We had Kathryn Forth and Julia Ritorto, who are the founders of fashion label Acler, a very well-known South Australian fashion label. Both of these women are also successful applicants. All of these women had said that program will—

Mr BROWN: Mr Speaker, point of order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr BROWN: More lies from Liberal Party!

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Florey is raising a point of order. I will hear the point of order from the member for Florey under 134.

Mr BROWN: Sir, the member for Morphett made an allegation that I was asleep in the chamber. I would ask him to withdraw and apologise.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr BROWN: Mr Speaker, the member for Flinders made an allegation that I was 'resting my eyes' in the chamber. I was not resting my eyes.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Florey, this can be resolved—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! This can be resolved expeditiously. We will turn to both of the members. Is one of the members seeking the call? Member for Morphett, we will deal with you first.

Mr PATTERSON: I will apologise; I was just looking out for you.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! That resolves one matter. Member for Flinders.

Mr TELFER: I withdraw, sir.

The SPEAKER: There is, by custom, a second part, member for Flinders.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Yes, there is. Member for Flinders, there is customarily a second part, and it going to assist you in question time and your side of politics so you are not burning up your own time. Member for Flinders.

Mr TELFER: I withdraw and apologise for my comment that he was resting his eyes.

The SPEAKER: Very well. The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. MICHAELS: Can I just say how disappointing it is that those opposite aren't interested in females and aren't interested in business owners.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Badcoe! Member for Frome! The leader! Order! Member for Chaffey! Minister, please be seated. The member for Hartley and the member for Badcoe will depart under 137A for the remainder of question time.

The honourable members for Badcoe and Hartley having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. MICHAELS: As I was saying, on top of those incredibly talented women who are now going to be supported through our Women in Business Program, we also have the Adelaide Business Hub, which are supporting the Foundation Program. We have had more than 210 women through early stages of their businesses registering for that Foundation Program. All of these participants will get access to four hours of one-on-one mentoring from an expert for a subsidised cost of $88, and online small group workshops and in-person networking events as well as a range of toolkits and tips to support them in growing their businesses.

This really is just the beginning of the Women in Business Program. I am really proud that we have implemented it so quickly and that it has been so successful and had such huge take-up. I am sure these programs that we are rolling out through the Office for Small and Family Business are going to make a real difference in breaking down some of those barriers to see our female entrepreneurs succeed in their businesses, help them grow their businesses and make a real difference for South Australia.

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