Value of small business, payments front and centre in estimates

Senator Doug Cameron questioned whether small business is the true engine room of the Australian economy in Senate estimates on Wednesday, while the small business ombudsman drove home the importance of compliance on payment times. The senator asked the department of jobs and small business whether it could quantify both the employment contributions of the small business sector and whether it was possible to track the impact that changes to penalty rates have contributed to more job creation. On the economic value of smaller operators, representatives from the department said the economic value from small businesses hit $393 billion in 2016-17, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This is just over one third of total economic output from the private sector, which Senator Cameron reflected did not indicate that smaller operators drove the most economic growth. "When we hear arguments about the driving force, the economic engine room, those numbers don't align with that – two thirds of growth elsewhere," he said.