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Federal minister for housing and small business, Julie Collins, has commended the recent resilience of Australia’s small businesses.
Despite contributing approximately $430 billion to Australia’s economy annually, the last few COVID-19-affected years have placed a significant burden on Australia’s 2.5 million small businesses.
In an opinion piece published in a NewsCorp outlet, the minister acknowledged the pandemic was not the sole headwind faced by small businesses, with several natural disasters, including extreme flooding across the last 12 months, and more recent financial impacts such as staff shortages and rising costs, have impacted these outlets.
Last year’s Treasury report titled Small Business and Mental Health Through the Pandemic revealed the complete extent of mental health challenges faced by Australia’s small business owners, including real estate agents, who themselves faced a myriad of problems born from rising rates and both housing and rental crises.
It revealed that just over one in five small business respondents reported having been diagnosed with a mental health condition by a doctor or health professional in recent months.
Ms Collins revealed that these alarming statistics inspired the Albanese government to commit “more than $15 million for tailored programs to support small business owners’ mental health and wellbeing in last year’s budget.”
“This included funding for the NewAccess for Small Business Owners program, delivered by Beyond Blue, and the Small Business Debt Helpline, delivered by Financial Counselling Australia,” she said.
Beyond Blue’s NewAccess for Small Business Owners is available nationally by phone or video call, with no GP referral required. Each mental health coach who manages the program is specially trained and has a small business background, allowing them to better understand the owners’ unique challenges.
A critical component of the program is the fact that it remains confidential, as Ms Collins revealed that the Treasury’s report “indicated that small business respondents would be more likely to seek mental health support if they remain anonymous.”
Another crucial factor, given the research, found “the cost associated with seeking help was the biggest barrier to accessing support,” is the fact that the NewAccess program is free of charge.
Ms Collins explained that “the Small Business Debt Helpline is a dedicated small business financial counselling service delivered by Financial Counselling Australia [that] provides free, independent, confidential, and impartial phone-based support to small business owners nationally, regardless of the cause of their financial hardship.”
She implored small businesses to access these government-funded programs and concluded that the federal government “will keep working hard to help improve the long-term resilience of Australia’s small businesses and help them bounce back.”
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