ANDREA MICHAELS:
Thank you for being here at the Adelaide Business Hub. It's an exciting morning to be able to meet some of our Women in Business participants. And to have Julie Collins here to meet our incredible South Australian business owners who are part of the Federal program and also the State programs. So the Adelaide Business Hub runs our Women in Business Foundations Program. I’m very pleased to say we've just got over 1000 participants in just over a year through the program. That saved women business owners over a million dollars thanks to the state government's program. Which is fantastic in this cost‑of‑living pressure. To be able to get these women through these programs, have fantastic mentoring that's provided by the Adelaide Business Hub, see their businesses thrive. And we've heard that this morning, how important this program has been to them. So I'm really pleased that it's gone so well over the last year or so and looking forward to more and more women participating in the program and seeing their businesses thrive and succeed. And working so well with Julie and Federal programs as well, being run through the Adelaide Business Hub on the digital and cyber as well, which I think Julie will speak about. But it's been a great year and a bit for the Women in Business Program. Some fantastic stories that we're hearing from, we’ve got Bridgette here from Barossa Helicopters who's participated in both our programs. So she'll be able to speak to you as well. But it's a great, great group of people here, Lyn Hay and the team here at the Adelaide Business Hub do such an amazing job. I'm really proud of the Women in Business Program that's been rolling out over the last year and a half through the state government, an election commitment that we've fulfilled, something that I'm really proud of.
JULIE COLLINS:
Thanks. It's terrific to be here with Minister Michaels. And importantly, with Bridgette from Barossa Helicopters and the other women in business we’ve been speaking to this morning. I think what this morning has reiterated for the State and the federal governments here is that working together with complementary programs, in collaboration, is really having an impact here at the Adelaide Business Hub, happening particularly for the women in business who are participating in both the state government program and the Digital Solutions program. The Albanese Labor government is investing more than $60 million in supporting small businesses with their online presence. The Digital Solutions Program that's been run here is just one of those programs. It's around $18 million in the Digital Solutions Program. We've now had more than 1500 businesses around the country participate in the program. It helps them with their online presence and helps them online and to make sure that they're safe online. We’re also as part of that $60 million investment, we have started the Cyber Wardens program through the Council of Small Business. And what that does is its actually a bit like a fire warden. So you have a Cyber Warden in small businesses that help small businesses understand the data they keep and have it protected. And we're about to get up and running two more programs in terms of cyber security, one is a cyber health check. And the other is supporting small businesses through cyber attack and after a cyber attack, to make sure that they can rebuild their business. So these are critically important programs. But importantly, it's great to see them working in a complementary manner with state government programs and to hear from the women today and I'm sure that Bridgette will be happy to answer your questions about what these programmes actually do. But they're clearly making a difference. They’re clearly supporting businesses with cost of living to grow their businesses and expand their businesses and to bring more benefit to the entire economy here in South Australia. So I might hand over to Bridgette to say a few things about the program and then I'll take other questions.
BRIDGETTE HASTINGS:
As a small business we all wear many hats within the organisation. So I wear marketing, creating products, I fly the helicopters, finance, regulations. So being able to learn and have a mentor to help guide and keep you on track of creating new products and breaking into the international market, understanding different structures of how other organisations work has just been literally amazing for our business.
JOURNALIST:
It must be more than managing flying helicopters. But there's a lot more towards the online side of things these days, a program like this, how does it help to develop your skills in that area as well?
HASTINGS:
It helps us learn how booking systems work, how to load product, how to deal with online travel agents. Helps build our own website and helps us learn how to create social media content for good engagement. And just basically, understanding how those processes work. So we're not having to pay somebody else to do that job for us, we can keep it all in house, which then in turn keeps our costs down, which as everyone knows as a small business, cash flow is a struggle sometimes.
JOURNALIST:
Do the programs help you engage and attract more customers?
HASTINGS:
It does because we're into different markets. So three or four years ago, before these programs started, we were not an international market, we had a small online presence with our own website and on social media. But it's grown from three or four online travel agents now to 25 online travel agents, and meeting with more than 120 different international travel agents across the world.
JOURNALIST:
What does it mean to have it subsidised, the courses?
HASTINGS:
Cash flow is always a struggle when it comes to that marketing or that learning space. You know, you're always, you know, pushing into maintenance and insurance and fuel and all that sort of stuff. So to have that small cost for a bigger picture has just saved us a lot of money. I think over the last probably two years, it's probably saved us or not let us spend probably $100,000 in marketing and mentoring programs for the $88.
JOURNALIST:
Yeah Minister, just quickly, you know, a lot of small businesses starting up and things like that, is cyber security a big threat to these small businesses who are just starting up? Are you seeing a lot of small businesses get attacked and they don’t exactly understand how to go about protecting their website and things like that?
COLLINS:
What we do know is that each attack on small business costs the small business approximately $43,000. So it is important, you know, if they have repeated attacks or if there is that risk, they understand that there is support available. We know that as we're moving into the technology age and businesses are going online, that we want to make sure that as a government we’re supporting them to keep their data, and their client’s data safe. So this is an important program. I think what we've learned from Bridgette, just a minute ago from Barossa Helicopters, is how critical this program is in helping small businesses grow, and to understand the online presence and what it means for them to be a business online. And I think that Bridgette summed it up when she said, ‘it's brilliant.’ What it does is it helps businesses thrive and to grow. Particularly when you know, we're in some, you know, in the economy with the way that it is at the moment, I know that here in South Australia, you know, you're the leading economy in the country. But I think what it shows us is that with support and government programs, where they’re complementary to each other, that we are supporting small businesses in a targeted way without adding to inflation, but really show benefits to the local economy.
JOURNALIST:
And what is the scope for you know, the investment in the programs in the future?
COLLINS:
Well, we of course, always assess programs for their success. But what we've heard here today is that both the State and the Federal government programs are overshooting their targets. They have demand here for these programs and certainly the Digital Solutions, as I go around the country and I visit the providers of these programs, they are incredibly successful. We know that small businesses do need support in terms of their online presence and in terms of their cyber security online. So we'll continue to look at what programs there are and to monitor their effectiveness.
JOURNALIST:
On a different topic, stage three tax cuts, is this the right move?
COLLINS:
Well we've taken the difficult, but the right decision, so that all Australian taxpayers will be getting a tax cut from 1 July. We know that here in South Australia what it means is that 89 per cent of South Australian taxpayers will be getting a bigger tax cut because of the decision that we are taking. We know that Australian households have been doing it tough and indeed some small businesses are doing it tough and we know that this tax cut for every Australian tax payer will make a difference. We also have the Treasury advice that says that it won’t add to inflation and that this is the best way to provide that support to households, which is why we're doing it. It was not an easy decision, but it's the right decision for Australian tax payers.
JOURNALIST:
And what is your message to those who are worse off?
COLLINS:
Well, we're making sure that every Australian taxpayer gets a tax cut from 1 July. So every Australian taxpayer will be getting a tax cut. Here in South Australia 89 per cent of taxpayers will be getting a bigger tax cut.