Budget 2022: COSBOA calls for $23 million SME cyber investment, softens multi-employer bargaining language

The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) is the latest industry group to hand down its October federal budget wish-list, pushing for new government spending on SME skills training and resilience measures while also softening its language on multi-employer bargaining.

Backdropped by what Treasurer Jim Chalmers has described as a difficult economic environment, the peak small business group’s pre-budget submission, released Tuesday, says investing in the small business sector could drive its growth and, in turn, tax revenue for the federal government.

Chief among its “high-return” recommendations is a $23 million investment in its new Cyber Wardens program, an initiative designed to educate and empower small businesses to ward off digital threats.

Currently in its pilot stage, the free-to-use Cyber Wardens platform will feature digital security strategies from industry players including Telstra and Commonwealth Bank.

COSBOA is seeking a three-year investment in the program, which it claims could save individual businesses tens of thousands of dollars when faced with attempted cyber attacks.

Tax write-offs and support for female founders

The organisation has also reiterated its calls to extend temporary full expensing, a budgetary measure that allows businesses with an annual turnover below $5 billion to immediately claim a tax write-off for assets used or installed by June 30, 2023.

The measure was introduced by the Morrison government in 2020 and was originally set to expire in 2022, but was subsequently extended for another year in the hopes of spurring further business investment in the post-lockdown economy.

COSBOA hopes the Albanese government will announce another extension to 2026, subject to annual reviews.

Supply chain hold-ups may have delayed store fit-outs and the installation of other business improvements, COSBOA argues, meaning operators could miss out on the temporary full expensing measure by the June 2023 deadline.

With the Morrison government choosing not to extend the measure in its own 2022-2023 federal budget, and the Albanese government’s current focus on dampening inflation, further additions to the temporary full expensing scheme would come as a surprise in the October document.

A further $8.7 million investment in the Future Female Entrepreneur program, the integration of a small business commissioner in the new Jobs and Skills Australia orgranisation, and a pilot program embedding risk mitigation strategies into small businesses round out the group’s pricier recommendations.

Multi-employer bargaining missing

Notably, the pre-budget submission softens the wording around COSBOA’s support of major industrial relations reforms.

Ahead of the Jobs and Skills Summit in September, COSBOA signed a memorandum of understanding with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), declaring its support for regulatory tweaks allowing employees to strike enterprise bargaining agreements with multiple employers at once.

The move would allow small businesses to pool their resources during the bargaining process, where costs and legal complexity currently pose challenges to SMEs and employees alike, COSBOA said at the time.

“We welcome the opportunity to explore new flexible single or multi-employer options that can be customised to our circumstances,” COSBOA CEO Alexi Boyd said at the time.

However, the organisation’s support for the measure earned the ire of other major business representatives and the consultation around it caused concern among some COSBOA members. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox feared the measure, if enacted, could expose a new wave of employers to industrial action.

While the new pre-budget submission does not drop COSBOA’s push for reform, it does not directly address multi-employer agreements.

“The operation of the current industrial relations system (and its associated enterprise bargaining arrangements) has put small businesses at a distinct disadvantage,” it says.

“Small businesses don’t have the in-house resources to interpret complex awards and/or negotiate EBAs with their workers and therefore, allowing them to compete more effectively with big businesses for talent.”

Accounting, retail groups also call for further funding and support

COSBOA has found support for several of its proposed measures in pre-budget submissions from CPA Australia, whose wish-list also includes a call for temporary full expensing to be made permanent.

“The introduction of the instant asset write-off and TFE has assisted businesses to maintain or even increase their capital expenditure,” the accountancy body argues.

“It has also decreased the complexity of tax depreciation for many businesses.”

Similarly, CPA Australia is urging the federal government to support the digitalisation of small businesses with new funding measures, above and beyond the Technology Investment Boost and Skills and Training Boost funding earmarked in draft legislation.

The digital skills and experience gap between Australian SMEs and those in the broader Asia-Pacific region may have contributed to the local sector’s comparatively slower growth, CPA Australia argues.

Australia should also take a more holistic review of its tax system, CPA Australia adds, in order to “provide Australians, businesses and investors with greater certainty and progress necessary reforms”.

The Australian Retailers Association’s (ARA) budget wish-list leads with a somewhat simpler request: targeted cash grants for small businesses in “impacted CBDs and tourist areas”, referring to depressed international visitor numbers in the nation’s metropolitan areas, along with the continual effects of COVID-19 and natural disasters.

The 25% corporate tax rate threshold should also be lowered to include medium-sized businesses, up to a threshold of $250 million in annual turnover, argues the ARA.

Given lingering skills shortages and a paucity of workers in the hospitality and retail sectors, the ARA is also calling for the government to extend policies allowing those on student visa to work extended hours beyond their scheduled end-date of 30 June 2023.

The federal government will hand down its budget on Tuesday, October 25.