Earlier this month, the 2024-25 Budget was handed down by The Federal Government.
The Budget for this coming financial year focuses on addressing the cost-of-living crisis by introducing investments aimed at providing money-saving solutions for eligible Australians.
Some investments are geared toward supporting small businesses, such as salon owners, at-home beauty business owners, franchisees, and salon staff.
According to business.gov.au, here are the 2024-25 Budget announcements most relevant to salons:
Small business financial health
- The $20,000 Instant Asset Write-off for small businesses has been extended. This is relevant to businesses with an annual turnover of less than $10 million. Small businesses can deduct eligible assets costing less than $20,000 until June 30 2025.
- From July 1 2024, eligible small businesses will receive $325 off their energy bill under a new Energy Bill Relief Fund.
Small business operations
- $288.1 million will be invested to deliver and expand the Digital ID system. This investment is designed to support small business owners with the ID data required to house client and employee information.
- To tackle concerns around cyber security, over $41 million will be allocated toward The Cyber Wardens program, The Small Business Cyber Resilience Service, and The Cyber Health Check online interactive tool to strengthen the cyber maturity of small business owners and their staff.
- In a bid to improve cash flow, disrupt payment redirection scams and boost productivity for small businesses, $23.3 million will support increased eInvoicing adoption.
- Franchisees and franchisors can expect a share in $3 million worth of investment into improvements in the Franchising Code of Conduct, the promotion of best practice conduct between franchisees and franchisors, and providing better access to dispute resolution.
- The expansion of the Payment Times Reporting Regulator is set to improve payment times to small businesses.
- The Fair Work Ombudsman is receiving $20.5 million to assist small business employers to comply with workplace laws.
- The Productivity, Education and Training Fund received $60 million to fund practical activities to support cooperation between employers and workers’ representatives.
- Continuation of the new National Skills Agreement, designed to expand access to vocational training.
Support for small business staff
- The NewAccess for Small Business Owners program and the Small Business Debt Helpline will be expanded to support the mental health and financial wellbeing of small business workers.
- Small business employers administering the Paid Parental Leave scheme will receive additional support, with $10 million provided.
The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) described the 2024-25 Budget as a ”missed opportunity”. In this article, COSBOA CEO Luke Achterstraat said “Currently 43 percent of small businesses are not profitable and are facing a perfect storm of rising costs and complexity. The extension of existing measures… are necessary but not sufficient to truly address the issues currently facing small business.”
“With a growth in productivity, we would achieve a funded growth in real wages for all employees and business owners alike.”
Learn more on the 2024-25 Budget here.
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