Do Small Businesses Feel Heard When It Comes to Policy & Regulation Creation?

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Member clubs may recall that ClubsNSW recently participated in the NSW Review of Small Business Experiences with Regulatory Policymaking.

The Office of the Small Business Commissioner has since released the ‘key themes’ that emerged from the consultation process. These key themes can be broken down into two categories: consultation processes and regulatory decisions.

Consultation Processes

Small businesses often struggle to participate in consultations due to limited resources.
There’s not enough flexibility or time to respond, especially during busy periods. Consultations should be scheduled outside of peak times.
Consultations are just 'tick box' exercises and don’t genuinely consider feedback or explore other options. Smaller, targeted focus groups might help.
There’s a lack of clear understanding about how regulations impact small businesses, including the combined effects of different rules. Communication should be straightforward and easy to understand.

Regulatory Decisions

The specific challenges and needs of small businesses should be better considered.
Regulatory and legislative changes have imposed significant financial and operational burdens.

In addition to providing a submission, stakeholders could also fill out a survey. The results showed that 51 per cent of businesses felt their feedback wasn't reflected in the final design of policies or regulations, and 60 per cent thought regulations weren't designed with their business needs in mind.

So, what does this mean for clubs? The insights from this review will help shape the final outcome, which will be presented to the NSW Government in the coming months. These recommendations are expected to highlight opportunities to streamline business regulations.

As legislation continues to evolve, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for clubs to keep up, making it essential to find better ways to support businesses.

ClubsNSW will continue to monitor the review’s progress, so please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Our ClubASSIST team is available on 1300 730 001 and at [email protected].  