The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, has announced that his office is launching an inquiry into small-business natural disaster preparedness and resilience.
The inquiry will examine and make recommendations to improve education and engagement programs designed to help small businesses prepare for natural disasters such as fires, floods, and drought.
“The impacts of natural disasters on small businesses can be devastating,” Billson said. “It can mean damaged and destroyed assets, reduced production and revenue streams, and sadly, a business-ending event in some cases that can have devastating personal impacts.
“Recovery can be lengthy, taking a heavy toll on small-business owners, their staff and the broader community, but can be greatly assisted by good preparedness,” Billson added. “Governments at all levels have a key role to play in ensuring people have the information they need to make informed decisions about how to manage the risks they face from natural disasters and how to be best placed to recover after an unavoidable event.”
The inquiry comes on the back of a recommendation of the 2020 Royal Commission into Natural Disaster Arrangements which stated that state and territory governments should continue to deliver, evaluate and improve education and engagement programs aimed at promoting disaster resilience for individuals and communities.
The necessity of a change of focus is highlighted by a recent Deloitte Access Economics report that found that 97 per cent of government disaster-related expenditure was used for repairs and recovery and just three per cent on disaster preparation and mitigation.
“Our inquiry will make recommendations about the types of supports that could be targeted to small business and how to achieve the best outcomes from those resources,” Billson said. “We will also make recommendations around the development of targeted resources that could be used by small business and government agencies to better support small-business preparedness and resilience.”
