Australian Small Business Advisory Services Programme
Teleconference
Session 1
Q&A
Participant 3:
Yes, it's participant 3 here. Just wondering if the ABA website has
been fixed? I tried to register on Friday and couldn't do it, and when I
went around it another way, it wouldn't even accept my password.
Graham Tanton:
So just trying to clarify that a little bit further. Which part of the website?
Participant 3:
I went in to try and get into the ABA website to set up a business
account. I set up a new name, put the password in, went back in to
log in, it doesn't go anywhere, it just does a little flicker over 'log in'
when you click on it. When I tried a different way and actually got in
to try and log in, it wouldn’t accept my password.
I renewed the
password, it still wouldn’t accept the renewed password. Has that
been fixed?
Graham Tanton:
We were actually unaware that there were any issues with that so we'll
check that and we'll come back to you.
Participant 3:
Thanks. I did ring. He said they've had a few complaints about it.
Graham Tanton:
Okay. We'll check that.
Participant 3:
Thank you.
Graham Tanton:
Thank you. Anyone else?
Participant 14:
Yes, participant 14.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 14:
Just a couple of questions.
On the KPIs that are set out, is that
relevant against ABNs and for the amount of money, the funding for
the 12 months, how many businesses is the government looking at
having serviced by that amount of money?
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Lisa Wilson:
This is Lisa Wilson, I'm the programme manager for the ASBAS
Programme.
The KPIs will be based on the number of enterprising
persons you intend to assist.
As mentioned in the presentation,
enterprising persons includes what we used to refer to as 'business
intenders' as well as those who are purchasing a business from another
person but have not yet commenced trading, or an established small
business. We haven't sent any measures at this point on the number of
businesses we anticipate you assist, however we will be looking for
competitive applications, assisting a merit-based competitive around.
Participant 14:
Okay.
Anne Scott:
It's Anne Scott here. Somebody has raised that question with me before
about ABNs being quite costly to collect. I guess for application we would
be looking for how you were going to measure that the policy outcome has
been achieved and so the measurement of how you're going to achieve
that is really up to you in the application. So we're not dictating so much
what you will need to collect, it's part of how you think you're going to run
the particular proposal.
Participant 14:
Another question is with the online application, how many characters
do you have in each section? Is that listed on the application form?
Lisa Wilson:
Yes, it is. Lisa Wilson. It's listed on the application form underneath the
question, for each question.
Participant 14:
Okay. Fine. Because sometimes you get caught short in putting in
the application before. Okay. That's all I have. Thank you.
Graham Tanton:
Any other questions?
Participant 11:
Participant 11 here. Can you hear me?
Graham Tanton:
Yes. Go ahead.
Participant 11:
Just to clarify on the last question from the previous participant,
could I just double check that there is a, for want of a better word,
mock or application form that you can see all the documentation in?
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Lisa Wilson:
Lisa Wilson again.
We have posted on the ASBAS page on
www.business.gov.au a list of questions that are contained in the
application form. That is just a sample only, the application still needs to
be submitted in the smart form.
Participant 11:
That's not a problem.
It's just sometimes they're conditional
questions so you don't get to see everything until the end. Thank
you.
Graham Tanton:
Any other questions?
Participant 13:
Participant 13.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 13:
I'm just looking at the frequently asked questions, question number
21, "Can the applicants provide advisory service to small businesses
free of charge?" and you've got "No." Can you please clarify the level
of rates that you're looking at? Are we looking at just a small fee?
Are we looking covering kilometre costs of travel for rural areas?
Lisa Wilson:
Lisa Wilson again. We're not actually mandating a fee, we're allowing the
providers to set their own fee. What we do ask is that it be low cost, so that
is lower than the market rate, for the area in which you are operating. So
obviously some areas may be high cost due to their geographic location,
others due to other factors may have a low market rate. So we ask that it
be below market rate.
Participant 13:
Fantastic.
Anne Scott:
It's Anne Scott here. So that's consistent with your not-for-profit status as
well, and the research shows that where businesses get something for
free, it's not sometimes valued as greatly so low cost [inaudible].
Lisa Wilson:
Lisa Wilson again. It's also important that you meet the requirement of
being a trading corporation. So if you're not filing your services, it may be
difficult for you to substantiate that you are a trading corporation.
Participant 13:
Yes.
Lisa Wilson:
All partners to the application must be constitutional corporations as well.
Participant 13:
Yes.
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Graham Tanton:
Any further questions?
Participant 13:
I have one more question. It's regarding the information given just
before. The online assessment tool, is that something that you will be
asking for one of the applicants to develop or will that be something
that's already developed?
Lisa Wilson:
Lisa Wilson. As we noted in the Customer Guidelines, the Commonwealth
may provide you with an online tool or you may use your own tool. At this
stage, the Commonwealth hasn't selected a tool but there is a potential that
we may in future make a tool available.
Participant 13:
Thank you.
Graham Tanton:
Any further questions?
Participant 6:
Participant number 6.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 6:
I just have a question in regards to the attachments.
How many
pages is the maximum per attachment?
Lisa Wilson:
You’re allowed to have 20 attachments and each attachment can be no
more than 2MB.
So depending on how you scan or produce that
document, I'm not sure how many pages that would run to.
Participant 6:
Okay. Thank you.
Lisa Wilson:
Any other questions?
Participant 14:
Participant 14 again. Just with regards to that previous questioner, I
just want to clarify is that 2MB per page or is that 2MB all up?
Lisa Wilson:
2MB per attachment.
So you're allowed 20 attachments, each can be
2MB.
Participant 14:
Cool. Previous we had a backlog of 10MB and it wouldn’t take any
more than 10. Thank you.
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Graham Tanton:
Any other questions? No? There's no other questions? If you do have
questions later on, do feel free to send them to the email address at
asbas@industry.gov.au, and we'll post those online as soon as we can. So
no further questions?
Participant 19:
Yes, participant number 19. Hello?
Lisa Wilson:
Yes, go ahead.
Participant 19:
19.
Graham Tanton:
Yes, thank you.
Participant 19:
Question is can you partner with a local government entity? We're a
large LGA with a other bordering our area.
Lisa Wilson:
The lead applicant must meet all the eligibility criteria.
Your partner
organisations just need to be a constitutional corporation.
Participant 19:
Okay. So if the LGA is that, it's okay?
Lisa Wilson:
Yes.
Participant 19:
Okay. Thank you.
Lisa Wilson:
So it can be an LGA, it can be a private sector for profit organisation, it can
be another not-for-profit.
Participant 19:
Thank you.
Lisa Wilson:
It can't be as an individual because they would not meet the requirements
of a trading corporation.
Participant 19:
Okie doke. Thanks.
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Australian Small Business Advisory Services Programme
Teleconference
Session 2
Q&A
Participant 38:
Are you able to see the entire online form in advance or only as we
go?
Graham Tanton:
Yes, you can actually. With the online form it is lodged on BGA website so
that you can actually look at the entire form but that's not actually in the
smart form but you can print up that PDF of the form, have a look at it, so
you can manage and structure your applications prior to going into the
smart form.
Lisa Wilson:
The next question is from – we haven't got a number – from anonymous.
Anonymous:
How do you define substantial management role?
Lisa Wilson:
Policy want to take that one?
Anne Scott:
I don't understand the question.
Lisa Wilson:
It says how do you define substantial management role?
Anne Scott:
In relation to what aspect would that be?
Lisa Wilson:
That's all the question that's there. So if you asked that question, you're
from Adelaide, could you please explain on what basis are you asking that
question? So "how do you define substantial management role", the panel
is having difficulty understanding that.
Lisa Wilson:
I've just got another one from the email, it's from participant 21.
Participant 21:
If you're not currently funded under the ASBAS 2012 round does that
negatively impact your application?
Lisa Wilson:
No, it doesn't. It's open to everybody who is an eligible organisation and
although we require [inaudible] to have been a former ASBAS provider.
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Anne Scott:
As I indicated – it's Anne Scott here – the focus of the programme is
change from specific projects under the old Small Business Advisory
Services Programme, and the focus is now on broad-based [inaudible]
service. So the focus of the programme is different.
Graham Tanton:
Is there any other questions?
Anne Scott:
Any other questions from people on the phone?
Participant 42:
Number 42.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 42:
Can we access the independent review?
Anne Scott:
The evaluation?
Participant 42:
Correct.
Anne Scott:
The evaluation is currently being completed now. I'll pass this off to Tania
who is conducting the evaluation.
Tania Jefferis:
There's likely to be high level [inaudible] risks on it but prior to that we need
to get endorsement from our executive, and of course the main delegates
for this programme [inaudible] small business.
Participant 42:
So at this stage, no.
Graham Tanton:
Any other questions?
Lisa Wilson:
So I've got the question from…
Anne Scott:
So can I just carry on from that question though, the feedback that we got
in the evaluation has been taken into account in the redesign and refocus
of this new programme.
Graham Tanton:
We do have another question, and I'll just read it out.
Anonymous:
In respect to small business – following on from [inaudible]
management, I believe substantial management, and this is in respect
to small business definitions on page 19 of the Customer Guidelines.
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Page 7 of 32
Lisa Wilson:
So the question relates to the definition of 'employee' that's found under the
definition of 'small business' on page 19 of the Customer Information
Guide.
It says that an employee is somebody who doesn't have a
substantial management role in the day-to-day operations of the business.
We don't define what substantial is, that's up to the organisation to
determine whether they're an employee or a manager.
Graham Tanton:
I hope that helps. Is there any other questions?
Participant 52:
Number 52.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 52:
With the LGA, and you have a large region, is it requested that you
deliver all the five service delivery programs to the different regions?
If you're in charge of a large area, are you required to do all five in a
specific in maybe a small-ish town or can you just concentrate on one
or two?
Anne Scott:
It's Anne Scott here.
The issue of the five streams is it provides a
consistent national framework that the Business Advisory Service has
provided. So the service provider must be able to provide all five streams
in their geographic needs but the companies that come and speak to you
for advice don't need to access all five streams, it's whatever they require,
but you must have the ability to provide all five across the whole
geographic area.
Participant 52:
And that's defined by LGA?
Anne Scott:
Geographic area is defined by LGA. Does that answer your question?
Participant 52:
Yes, thank you.
Lisa Wilson:
I have another question online.
Graham Tanton:
We have another question online that we'll read out.
Anonymous:
Can a project service a sector only within its target regions?
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Lisa Wilson:
The answer to that would be no. Industries within a thicker geographic
area, you might want to partner with another provider who can provide
general business advisory services across the five streams, and say an
industry association who is assisting that specific industry in that region
could be delivering in partnership just to that specific sector. So a tailored
service to that particular sector.
Graham Tanton:
So any other questions online or on the phone?
Participant 33:
33.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 33:
Under the current ASBAS arrangements we can only work with
businesses up to 25 employees. Has that changed?
Lisa Wilson:
No.
The definition hasn't changed but it's only businesses less than
20 employees.
Participant 33:
Less than 20. The other question I had was if you have a partner
agreement/arrangement with a lead organisation, do you need
incorporated documentation for all the partners or just the lead
organisation?
Lisa Wilson:
All of them have to be constitutional corporations and we need to see…
Participant 33:
Yes, they will be but do you need the evidence of that?
Lisa Wilson:
Yes.
Participant 33:
Thank you.
Graham Tanton:
We have another one online.
Anonymous:
Is a financial or matching financial contribution required?
Graham Tanton:
No, it's not.
Lisa Wilson:
No, there's no matching contribution required. Obviously if you're receiving
funding from the state and territory government, you need to show that this
funding is in addition to the service that you provide on behalf of those
programmes.
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Participant 29:
29.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead, 29.
Anne Scott:
Sorry, it's Anne Scott here. Just also on the funding, you can of course
leverage on private sector expertise as well that may be offered pro bono
on some of the programmes/projects.
Graham Tanton:
Thank you. Sorry, 29.
Participant 29:
Yes, 29. Can an industry association service its members only or
does it need to service beyond its membership in the region?
Lisa Wilson:
Sorry, could you repeat the question please?
Participant 29:
In the case of any industry association providing services, do they
have to provide it beyond their own membership? For example, an
involuntary membership where we have a limited number of members
that pay voluntarily as opposed to actually servicing the whole sector
and people that are not members.
Lisa Wilson:
So this is similar to a previous question. The application can't be limited to
a particular sector in the region. So we suggest that if your region has a
particular industry sector that's quite prominent, that you partner with
another organisation to deliver the general business advisory services, and
that the industry organisation provides tailored business advisory services
to that sector within the partnership. With the ASBAS funding, you cannot
limit it to your members, it has to be available to any small business as
defined in the [inaudible] employees.
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Australian Small Business Advisory Services Programme
Teleconference
Session 3
Q&A
Anonymous:
Yes, 5691 6095.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Anonymous:
I just need some clarity regarding eligibility criteria. We're a local
government. As part of our services we provide business advice as
part of our service. We're not registered with the BEC Network but we
are a business advisory service as part of our service offering. I'm a
little bit confused as to whether we're eligible to apply or not as a
local government. It's trademarked but they don't have a separate
ABN or anything like that.
Lisa Wilson:
It's Lisa Wilson. You'd have to meet all the eligibility requirements so your
organisation needs to be a constitutional corporation under section 51XX of
the Constitution.
Anonymous:
Does that mean local government?
Sorry, do you know if that
includes local government?
Lisa Wilson:
You would have to make an assessment yourself as to whether the
business that you're undertaking is a trading corporation, that you're
charging fees for goods and/or services. You also have to meet the other
eligibility requirements. You have to be a registered business organisation.
You have to be incorporated. Some councils may not be. You'd have to
probably speak with your executive officer or your council legal officer as to
how your council has been established. Depending on the states. Some
states are incorporated, others don't appear to be. You also need to have
an ABN number.
Anonymous:
Which of course we do. I guess the question is are local governments
considered to be not-for-profit or is it just a question of how they're
incorporated?
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Lisa Wilson:
Well, it's how your constitution establishes you as to whether you're a
not-for-profit and that may lead back to the State Government Act under
which local governments are established. All I can say is in the past we
have had some councils who have been providers but it really depends on
which state you're in and how you've been set up. So I can't actually
provide you a cast iron guarantee; you may be eligible depending on how
you've been established.
Graham Tanton:
It's probably worthwhile you speaking to your executive and just speaking
to your council in regards to establishing how your council was established.
Anonymous:
Sure. Thanks.
Graham Tanton:
Next question?
Participant 53:
Yes. Hi, it's number 53 here.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 53:
Thanks for the information. Just a point of clarification, I think you
have answered the question. In our case, we would see ourselves
possibly providing information on some of the five streams with an
internal resource and some with an external resource because
[inaudible] when they come in to see you and clearly sometimes it
requires a fairly detailed sifting process to actually decide what expert
they need to actually go and see. So is that seen as something that –
I gather from what you've said, that's okay?
Anne Scott:
As long as the other expert is not acting as an individual but they are
actually incorporated.
Participant 53:
Yes. I'm talking more like service provider, like IT or online.
Anne Scott:
So you're referring to an outsourced?
Participant 53:
Yes.
Anne Scott:
You can subcontract under
your
funding agreement to another
organisation. It has to still be a low cost service though. So obviously
referring them to another provider, it's either provided under your funding or
it has to be another low cost funding.
Participant 46:
Yes, I've got a question here. It's number 46.
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Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 46:
Under Clause 6 (Who Can Apply), there is a definition there of what a
registered business organisation is. Is that the definition that you are
using?
Whereas for example, in other places they refer to other
definitions such as what is a constitution or corporation.
Is the
definition you've got there your sole definition of a registered
business organisation?
Lisa Wilson:
Lisa Wilson here. On page 19 of the Customer Information Guide, we have
the definition of [inaudible] that is [inaudible] criteria that you need to be an
RBO but on top of that, you also need to be a constitutional corporation.
So in the case of a trading corporation, you need to be receiving or a
substantial part of your work will be provision of goods or services trading.
Participant 46:
Yes. I have no problems finding in plenty of places the definition of a
constitutional corporation but I can't find the registered business,
other than what's in your definition. I'm happy with your definition, I
just wanted to check that that is the definition that you are going by?
Lisa Wilson:
That is the definition for the purposes of this programme. Page 19, yes.
Page 19 is the definitions.
Participant 46:
Yes, I've got that. Thank you very much.
Graham Thornton:
Another question?
Participant 50:
Participant 50.
Graham Thornton:
Go ahead.
Participant 50:
In relation to the terminology of expert, in the questions and answers
already provided, it states that only applications that deliver the five
business solutions streams by experts will be considered, which
implies that an expert will be delivering each stream.
What is
determined as an expert?
Anne Scott:
That's up to you to determine what [inaudible] five streams, and you could
have one expert provide five or you could have numerous experts that
provide subsets.
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Lisa Wilson:
What we would ask for in the application is that to substantiate that you
attach CVs where appropriate to indicate their experience. Now these may
be people who have some form of tertiary or other qualifications or they
may be people who have quite substantial business experience but no
formal qualifications. So we're not mandating anything in particular.
Participant 50:
Thank you.
Graham Tanton:
Does that answer that question?
Participant 50:
Yes, it did. Thank you very much.
Graham Tanton:
All right. Fantastic. Any other questions?
Participant 60:
Number 60.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 60:
Yes, thank you. You mentioned earlier that this year's funding round
the participants must be able to cover at least their local government
area.
Is this a divergence from the past, given that the local
government area that we're in covers quite a substantial area?
Lisa Wilson:
The ASBAS round, we're requiring people to indicate their geographic area
based on local government area, and we are asking that applicants
undertake to deliver across the entire LGA or LGAs they are nominating
for. This is one way that we can encourage a greater geographic spread of
services.
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Australian Small Business Advisory Services Programme
Teleconference
Session 4
Q&A
Participant 82:
Yes, number 82.
Graham Tanton:
Welcome. Go ahead.
Participant 82:
Can we apply to provide services to more than one LGA or is it only
for one LGA?
Graham Tanton:
Yes, you can apply for multiple however you will need to define the areas
of need within those unique LGAs.
Lisa Wilson:
And you'll need to be known within those areas or partner with somebody
who is known, have the networks in those LGAs.
Graham Tanton:
Next question?
Participant 64:
I have a question. Number 64.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 64:
The partnership.
Can the application be just without going into
partnership with anyone?
Lisa Wilson:
Yes, an individual organisation can lodge their own application in their own
right with no other partners, or you can partner with other organisations.
Participant 64:
So if I could demonstrate that I had good partnership in collaboration
with other entities within the region, that would suffice?
Lisa Wilson:
If you were lodging just for your organisation, yes you'd still have to
substantiate that you have appropriate connections within that region and
have the expertise to deliver all five streams to that region.
Participant 64:
So that could be a mix of other entities that could provide those
services, ie like banking and what-have-you?
Lisa Wilson:
You could be subcontracting to other entities or have consultants, they
don't necessarily need to be your employees but they do need to have
expertise to deliver the stream.
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Graham Tanton:
In saying that too, if you're looking to go into partnership, those other
providers would need to be low cost. So if it was an area that you maybe
weren't proficient in, you couldn't go and refer them off to someone who
was charging a market rate service for that advice.
Participant 64:
Okay. Thank you.
Graham Tanton:
Another question?
Participant 24:
I have a question. Number 24.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 24:
I was just wondering, we have funding under the QNDA funding and
there's a slight overlap. Are we still able to apply for the funding?
Lisa Wilson:
Yes. All providers, even if their funding extends past 31 December 2014,
are eligible to apply.
Participant 24:
Excellent. Thanks.
Lisa Wilson:
As long as they still meet the eligibility criteria and the new constitutional
corporation requirements.
Graham Tanton:
Another question?
Participant 69:
Yes. Number 69.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 69:
We are part of the [inaudible] stream network, we don't fit under the
constitutional corporation. Are we precluded from being part of this?
Graham Tanton:
If you're not a constitutional corporation, yes.
Participant 69:
Our money comes from the three levels of government, so we're not a
trading – so we can't participate?
Lisa Wilson:
So you're not doing any trading functions currently?
Participant 69:
Minimal. Very, very limited. It's nothing like the bulk of our funds.
The funds come from local government, state government and federal
government.
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Lisa Wilson:
You may wish to explore this further within your own organisation and your
own legal advisers. I can't determine whether you are a trading corporation
or provide you advice as such. However, one option would be to partner
with somebody but you still need to be a constitutional corporation to be a
partner.
Participant 69:
Okay.
Anne Scott:
Can I just explain? It's Anne Scott here. We're required to have all people
receiving this money to be incorporated.
So unfortunately that's
mandatory.
Participant 69:
No, no. We're an incorporated association. We've been providing
these
services,
business
development
and
business
support
services, to state government and local government for many years,
but they've basically been at minimal costs, I mean really minimal,
just to cover the costs of attending your seminars. Out of a revenue
of $1 million, we make $5,000.
Anne Scott:
You can still be a not-for-profit. So you maybe need to have a look at the
eligibility criteria a bit further. As long as you're trading, in other words,
providing a service in its trade then…
Participant 69:
But my understanding is the bulk of the revenue is to come from the
trading, that's my understanding. We've looked into this, and it says
most of your money must come from trading.
Lisa Wilson:
Substantial.
Anne Scott:
A substantial amount.
Participant 69:
That's right.
Over 90% of our money comes from government
sources.
Lisa Wilson:
Unfortunately, we're not allowed to offer an opinion as to whether you're a
constitutional corporation or as to your eligibility. The only thing we can
suggest at this moment is that you perhaps consult your organisation's
legal adviser as to whether you meet the definition of substantial. I'm sorry,
we can't go any further than that at this point.
Participant 69:
All right. Thank you.
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Graham Tanton:
Are there any other questions?
Participant 80:
Hello. It's number 80.
Graham Tanton:
Sorry, number 8 was it?
Participant 80:
80.
Graham Tanton:
80. Go ahead.
Participant 80:
Now that we are required to meet all five business solution streams,
how is service delivery recorded? Is it going to be per individual ABN
still?
Anne Scott:
It's Anne Scott here. It's up to you to be able to demonstrate in your
proposal how you're going to achieve the policy outcome, and so obviously
we're very interested in that there is additional work over your existing
services and that you're not duplicating work that you already may be doing
for state and territory government funding. So we're very interested in what
benefits you're providing to small businesses, how you're going to record
that benefit and how you make sure that's over and above what you
already provide. So if that's recording ABNs that would be fine, but that
would be not the only measurement I would suggest because that doesn’t
really measure outcome.
Lisa Wilson:
Lisa Wilson here. The application form is actually asking you for additional
services that you're providing.
So within your application, you're not
actually defining how many ABNs or otherwise that you'll assist, but it's the
number of services over and above your business as usual activities that
you will be providing under this funding agreement if you're successful.
Anne Scott:
Remember that some of the people that you're dealing with might not have
ABNs, they might be small business intenders. Obviously, we're interested
in the outcome you're doing for the business, not necessarily serving the
same businesses over and over again.
Graham Tanton:
Does that answer your question?
Participant 80:
Yes, to an extent.
Graham Tanton:
Any other questions?
Participant 77:
Yes, 77.
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Page 18 of 32
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead. Sorry, 87 was it or 77?
Participant 77:
77.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 77:
The question regarding the LGA that we service, we are adjacent to a
capital city and we get a lot of requests for help from people who are
outside our LGA. We couldn’t possibly serve the whole capital, and
we don't want to apply for that, but how do we recognise that a huge
part of the requests for help will come from outside of our LGA?
Lisa Wilson:
Most of the capital cities aren't a single LGA, they're made up of a number
of different municipalities. You might wish to look at which municipalities
you are closest to and whether you include those in your application, or you
may wish to partner with another provider that's in that adjacent LGA.
Graham Tanton:
In saying that, if you've got someone who's coming into your LGA to get
those services, that's okay. So if they're coming into your area, into your
LGA, that's fine.
Participant 77:
So it's okay if they come into me because…?
Lisa Wilson:
Yes, so if you're not seeking them out.
Participant 77:
No, no. I'm not seeking them out but I'm the only service provider
there. Sorry, I can't hear that response?
Anne Scott:
It's not from us, sorry.
Lisa Wilson:
It's not from us, sorry. We thought you were talking and were speaking to
somebody in the background.
Participant 77:
No, it's not me.
Graham Tanton:
Does that answer your question?
Anne Scott:
In your proposal, you need to consider the size of your geographic area
that you're going to service, and that could be multiple LGAs.
Participant 77:
Yes. Okay.
Graham Tanton:
Any other questions?
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Participant 82:
Number 82 again.
Graham Tanton:
Yes.
Participant 82:
With one of the five criteria being digital engagement implementation,
I understand that a lot of what is already done through the Digital
Enterprise Programme is focused on that particular aspect of
business growth. In our application, do we need to take into account
what's already occurring in our region in terms of the Digital
Enterprise Programme or is that programme winding up, or how do
we account for that?
Anne Scott:
The funding in the digital enterprise programmes has been fully committed
and so those programmes have been run out, and I think there are some
contracts that are still active at the moment. So whatever funding you're
looking for, for this particular engagement, would be over and above what
services are being provided under the Digital Engagement Programme.
The research shows that regardless of existing services that are available,
there's currently unmet demand, especially for digital engagement with
businesses unaware of how they can lift their productivity from using new
technology. So the Digital Enterprise Programme has taken it so far but
there's still a large degree of unmet demand in that space.
Does that
answer your question?
Participant 82:
Yes, it does. Thank you.
Graham Tanton:
Any other questions?
Participant 84:
It's 84 here. Just a question in relation to boundaries of service. If
you've got a couple of applications in there that are going to service
the same areas, I'm assuming only one of those would be successful
in getting that funding?
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Lisa Wilson:
Yes. We're unlikely to select providers who are overlapping. That's why
we suggest that if you have competitors in the area, we would encourage
you to put in a partnership application so you're not actually competing. It's
a bit of an inflated process but you're not going at loggerheads against your
nearest neighbour, you're actually both cooperating with each other.
I
suppose it depends on the likely demand in an area as well. It's unlikely
we'd fund more than one in an area but if there's a massive demand that's
actually indicated by a range of people, and we can verify that, then we
might be open to it but with a limited amount of funding, I wouldn’t count on
it.
Participant 84:
So say for example, we're from the RDA and we're a current provider,
we would provide a general service across the region which is not
specific to an industry type. I know of a couple of other organisations
who are looking at putting in smaller applications that are specific to
one industry type, ie tourism.
Lisa Wilson:
Previously we've indicated that while a particular region may have a
particular industry where there's a high need, we have an expectation that
service providers we contract will provide the full range of five streams to
that whole geographic area. If there's a sector, we would encourage them
to partner with a mainstream provider such as yourself, so you can deliver
the general services and they can deliver a tailored service within that area.
Anne Scott:
So the idea of the programme is that we have a national framework that
[inaudible] business advice, the flexibility in the collaboration aspect of the
programme means you can target a particular topic or a particular industry
sector by collaborating with a partner.
Participant 84:
Say for example, in this case, one application from us and we would
potentially partner with the FOBs who are looking at a smaller one
specifically targeting tourism because…?
Lisa Wilson:
No, you'd need to have the application as a partnership. We won't match
you up later. So the application has to be you with the other partner.
Participant 84:
Yes, that answers my question. Thank you.
Graham Tanton:
We've just got a couple more minutes to go. Is there any other questions?
No? I'd knock the hammer down at an auction so going once, going twice.
Any other questions?
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Participant 82:
Number 82 again.
Graham Tanton:
Yes.
Participant 82:
A question about servicing the one business again. So for example, if
a business utilised services under the programme for say digital
engagement, are we meant to be monitoring that so that they then
don't access the programme in another area, or can they use multiple
services provided under the programme?
Anne Scott:
Yes. So the risks that we've got to cover off against are people who may
claim that they've done work under state and territory government, claiming
the same work under this money, and servicing a company over and over
again.
So that's the risk that we're trying to mitigate in what we're
measuring, but what we're also wanting to measure is what the outcome
will be for a business. So a good outcome for a business would be not
limited to a one-off transaction, it may be that they have multiple
transactions in order to achieve the policy outcome, which is accessing
business advice.
Lisa Wilson:
I'd also add that what we're trying to do is provide them with sufficient
information but we're also as providers trying to look at getting an exit
strategy for them, so getting them to stand on their own two feet. So what
we're aiming to do is teaching them to fish, so giving them the skills that
they need to go out and deliver their product without you having to
constantly step in and assist them.
So it's that balancing act between
giving them sufficient information but also giving them independence.
Graham Tanton:
I think we've got time for one last question if anyone has got a question?
Participant 77:
77. So when did you say the decisions would be announced? When
in January?
Graham Tanton:
At this stage, we just say January 2014. We don't have a specific date.
Anne Scott:
We're not sure of the Minister's availability at this time.
Participant 77:
Okay, but it's definitely sometime in January?
Lisa Wilson:
We're indicating that it is likely to be January.
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Australian Small Business Advisory Services Programme
Teleconference
Session 5
Q&A
Anonymous:
Our organisation is a geographically named identifying an original
location. If we employed a business adviser to deliver small business
advisory services in a different LGA, that LGA's business owners
would expect to see the business advisory service provided under
their own region's name, not using our current name. Can we register
a business name and use it to deliver such a service should our
application be successful?
Graham Tanton:
So basically what they're asking is that they've got an original business
name which is named after the region of which they deliver that service.
They're obviously looking to open up into a new service and they'd like to
potentially rename to reflect that new area or region. The answer to that
question, it is our understanding that it may be possible for an organisation
to have more than one trading name, however, we do recommend that you
take independent legal advice on the mechanisms for that, if you choose to
proceed down that path.
The Commonwealth will enter into funding
agreements with the successful applicant using the organisation's legal
name.
If known, the funding agreement may also note that the
organisation trades under another name. If you are seeking to establish an
entirely new organisation to service another region and apply in the name
of that organisation, you must be aware that the applicant organisations
must meet all eligible criteria, that is it must be a company under
constitution and it must be trading. We will also be seeking experienced
organisations. So that's just something to note if you are looking to do that.
Anonymous:
Section 9 of the ASBAS Customer Information Guide states that
funded projects are expected to support a range of service delivery
mechanisms including access to mentoring networks in the defined
geographical region of the project. Does this mean that the delivery
of mentoring is excluded from the scope of activities that will be
considered for funding?
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Graham Tanton:
We see mentoring as an important advisory activity for small businesses.
So no, it won't be excluded and mentoring services can be funded under
the ASBAS Programme, however, it should be noted that funding under
ASBAS is intended to fund additional services over your organisation's
business as usual activities.
So if you already deliver, for example,
100 mentoring sessions a year, ASBAS can fund you to deliver additional
mentoring services, ie 101 and above, but will not fund you for services you
already deliver.
Anonymous:
Can we service partial LGAs, ie one or two towns in an LGA adjacent
to us?
Graham Tanton:
The answer to that question is no. Successful applicants will be required to
deliver services to an entire LGA they have listed in that application.
Successful applicants will not be able to exclude areas or towns of an LGA
they nominate in their application. If that is the case, you may be better off
seeking a partnership with a provider in that area.
So they were the questions that came through. I will just now look to open the lines up and then
I'll call for questions if there are any out there. The lines are now open so
again, I do ask that if you're looking to ask a question that you identify
yourself with your unique identifier and we'll go from there.
So would
someone like to open up the questions? Any questions?
Anonymous:
Yes, Graham. What is it, the DL number you want, is it?
Graham Tanton:
Just your unique number. That's correct.
Anonymous:
DL142251. I noticed on the application form, you can only bring up
when you've – I've already consulted [inaudible] about this – but when
you put your ACN in, that comes up and you verify that and then it
brings up your company name, you try to put your ACN in and it
wipes out the other two. Has that been fixed yet?
Lisa Wilson:
It's Lisa Wilson speaking. That fix was put in last week, and what it was
doing was it was checking the Australian Business Register and when the
two numbers weren't linked, it was wiping each other out. That's now been
corrected and there is now a field for people to put in their state
government incorporation number rather than in the ACN field.
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Anonymous:
Second question is you can only bring up one business name.
There's a dropdown box of all your business names, I want to alert
across three regions to do three business names, and you can only
bring up one. How do I get around that?
Lisa Wilson:
Is this your trading name?
Anonymous:
Yes. I cover three LGAs and I've got three trading names for those
three LGAs and I want to put those in the application form but when
you put the trading name –
Lisa Wilson:
I'd put them down as a partnership.
Anonymous:
– only one name will come up.
Lisa Wilson:
You'd need to put them down as a partnership because they're separate
entities.
Anonymous:
They're not separate entities, we own them as a company and they're
our trading names.
Lisa Wilson:
I would apply in your legal name and then you can explain it in the
application or put it in an attachment at the back of the document.
Anonymous:
Okay.
Graham Tanton:
Other questions?
Participant 97:
Yes, this is number 97.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 97:
A couple of questions. With the application pro forma, the application
prompts you for each – and I haven't looked at it yet – is there a way
in which you can look at your application in its entirety before you
begin so you know what the things are you're going to respond to and
what attachments you're going to need, or do you have to do it one at
a time?
Lisa Wilson:
There is a document uploaded to www.business.gov.au/asbas which was
the questions that are contained in the application form just as an aide, not
replacing the smart form.
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Participant 97:
Okay. So is that identified as? I hadn't noticed it.
Lisa Wilson:
It was uploaded on Friday afternoon.
Participant 97:
Right. Okay. That's fine. I haven't seen it. The other question I have,
there's reference to providing the expertise and CVs of the people
who are going to be providing this service. The very nature of this
programme is to increase capacity so I would assume that most
organisations would employ new expertise or additional expertise.
So the response around that? You can't provide the CVs of people
you haven't yet employed.
Lisa Wilson:
We would like to see the CVs of your core organisation as evidence of
expertise. Obviously when you engage people, if you're successful, we list
all specified personnel in that funding agreement and at that time request a
CV for any newly engaged people.
Participant 97:
Okay. No problem.
Graham Tanton:
You may have existing people who you're increasing their capacity to
deliver more as well out of that process.
Participant 97:
Yes, but to increase your capacity you're going to need more people
to do it.
Graham Tanton:
Not if they're running at 50%.
Lisa Wilson:
In your application you'd also cover what sort of capabilities you'd be
expecting those new people to have.
Participant 97:
Yes. Just one other question is if we've got an organisation where an
organisation is a registered organisation, it's very specific to a
particular region but you're also delivering other government funded
services outside of the banner of your specific regional RBO in other
areas, is that an issue for applying in those other areas? I mean if
you're still a not-for-profit delivering government services.
Anne Scott:
I'm not sure we quite understand the question.
Participant 97:
I might try putting that one in an email because I could probably
articulate it better.
Anne Scott:
It might be quite specific.
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Page 26 of 32
Participant 97:
If I thought about it a bit more.
Graham Tanton:
If you can send that through and we'll come back to you.
Participant 97:
Do I have to do it now or will you come back to me?
Graham Tanton:
No, that's okay. You can do it later.
Participant 97:
Okay. Thank you.
Graham Tanton:
Any other questions?
Participant 91:
Yes, 91.
Am I correct in assuming that to apply for an extra
jurisdictional licence to trade in, in other words to get an area out of
your own state, you have to be a nationally registered organisation?
Anne Scott:
I don't think we understand the question.
Graham Tanton:
Can you just maybe rephrase? We're just trying to understand what the
question is.
Participant 91:
An entity in State A applies to deliver this service in State B, C, D
and E. Would they have to be a nationally constituted organisation?
Anne Scott:
No. As long as you meet the eligibility criteria and you demonstrate that
you've got capability on the ground that's got familiarity with the geographic
region you're going to deliver, you just meet the eligibility criteria as written.
Lisa Wilson:
That is connected to that area and has connections with the local business
community and the like.
Graham Tanton:
Does that answer your question?
Participant 91:
Not really, no.
Anne Scott:
Do you want to put it in an email?
Participant 91:
Yes, I'd like you to have another look at it. Yes, I'll probably put it in
an email. Yes, I will.
Graham Tanton:
Any other questions?
Participant 95:
Yes, 95.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
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Page 27 of 32
Participant 95:
I understand you're talking about registered under constitution, you
mean the Corporations Act, I presume?
Graham Tanton:
That's correct.
Lisa Wilson:
Correct.
Participant 95:
So that would be not-for-profit limiteds or proprietary limiteds?
Lisa Wilson:
We're referring to a constitutional corporation, so something that falls within
the definition, say a trading corporation.
Participant 95:
Yes, that would be a proprietary limited, in my view. Is that correct?
Lisa Wilson:
No, it doesn't have to be a proprietary limited, it just needs to be
incorporated and be trading.
Participant 95:
Yes, got it, but it can be an RBO under the Corporations Act? Yes, I
think you've answered it. I just wasn't clear whether you were cutting
certain companies out but it would seem as though as long as they're
properly registered companies and operating then that's okay, or
associations or incorporations?
Anne Scott:
And they're not-for-profit.
Lisa Wilson:
If they're incorporated under Commonwealth and State or Territory law and
meet the incorporation requirements, they have to be trading in goods or
services, a substantial part of their business, to quality as a trading
corporation.
Participant 95:
Yes. Okay. That's fine.
Anne Scott:
And as a not-for-profit.
Participant 95:
That's fine.
Graham Tanton:
Any other questions?
Participant 102:
Yes, this is 102.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead, 102.
Participant 102:
Relating to the frequently asked questions, you've got Question 16,
"Do applicants have to engage experts to deliver all five business
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Page 28 of 32
solutions streams?" and that is a requirement. So I'm hearing coming
through today's teleconference you seem to be proposing that the
RBO has staff that can cover all five streams. In the past we've had
situations where you've had staff manage the project but then have a
panel of advisers who would then cover those five streams. Can I
have some clarity on that, please?
Lisa Wilson:
You can engage people, so they could be an employee or they could be a
contractor or they could be a subcontractor or in the case that we were
suggesting, you could be in a partnership arrangement. So you might be
able to as a lead agent provide three of the five streams and partner with
somebody who could provide the other two streams, and together you have
coverage for all five.
Participant 102:
Thank you. It's fine.
Graham Tanton:
Any other questions?
Participant 92:
92.
Graham Tanton:
Who was that, 92?
Participant 92:
Yes, please.
Graham Tanton:
Go ahead.
Participant 92:
One of the things you stated was the no overlapping projects, and
that makes perfect sense but is that no overlapping projects across
Australia or across your state or across your LGA?
Anne Scott:
So this money is to be utilised for additional services that are not already
provided elsewhere and paid for by something else.
Participant 92:
So basically if there's another organisation in my same state that may
be running the same programme but they're quite a distance from me,
that would be all right?
Lisa Wilson:
So if they're not covering your region then you're not overlapping. If they're
providing that service into your region it would be overlapping.
Participant 92:
Okay.
Lisa Wilson:
[inaudible]
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Page 29 of 32
Participant 92:
My second question was earlier in the piece, quite a few months ago,
there was some suggestion that this may be a dollar for dollar grant.
So do I need to use my bank balance as a guide as to what I'm
applying for?
Graham Tanton:
No.
Anne Scott:
No, that's never been a suggestion from here so I don't know where that
suggestion has come from, but that's never been the case under this
programme.
Lisa Wilson:
So no match funding required.
Participant 92:
Thank you so much.
Graham Tanton:
That's okay.
Participant 105:
105.
Graham Tanton:
Go head.
Participant 105:
Is the intent of the programme, with up to $200,000 per region, to be a
similar territory to be the past programme or is it the intent of the
programme that up to $200,000 would have to be spread over a larger
number of clients and therefore a larger number of territories?
Anne Scott:
It's up to you to demonstrate in your application what you feel is the
appropriate amount of money for the geographic or multiple applications
thereof that the $200,000 would provide the services for.
Lisa Wilson:
It should be noted that, of course, it's a competitive merit-based and one of
the factors we'll be looking at is value for money. So if you were to select a
very small region, ask for $100,000 and only indicate that you were going
to provide a small number of additional services, then the value for money
would be probably less than maybe another area that had a larger area at
a lower cost. Does that make sense?
Participant 105:
Thank you. Yes.
Graham Tanton:
I think we've got time just for one more question. Is there another question
there?
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Participant 102:
102. Just going on that last one about value for money, I understand
KPIs will be set by AusIndustry, which makes it very difficult to frame
the application not knowing what those KPIs might be.
Anne Scott:
No, the KPIs are set by the applicant about how they're going to
demonstrate that they've met the policy outcome.
Participant 102:
Okay.
Lisa Wilson:
In your application, you're asked to provide the additional number of
services that you will be providing if you get the funding over the three
years. So that's additional over your business as usual activities and that
will help us form the basis of the KPIs.
Participant 102:
Let me just take you back to page 7 of the Customer Information
Guide, under chapter or part 10…
Lisa Wilson:
Can I have your identification number?
Graham Tanton:
Sorry, your identification number?
Participant 102:
Sorry,102.
Lisa Wilson:
Yes, go ahead.
Participant 102:
Page 7 of the Customer Information Guide under 10 (Key Performance
Indicators), the first line is, "AusIndustry will set key performance
indicators for each project funded under the programme."
Graham Tanton:
Yes. Using the information you provide in your application.
Participant 102:
Well, that's not obvious. Yes. Okay.
Graham Tanton:
95 can ask one more last one.
Participant 95:
Yes, absolutely.
I'm very happy that you're generous with the
attachments but I just wonder whether you've got any – two questions
– whether you limit the number of referees, and I'm assuming from
what you said that statistical evidence is quite satisfactory?
Lisa Wilson:
We require evidence of need. So if you make a statement about the needs
and demand in your region, we would probably expect that you support that
with some form of statistical evidence, targeted evidence.
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As far as
Page 31 of 32
referee's reports are concerned, we need to have at least two referees. If
you've received government funding we would expect that one of those
referees would be from a level of government who's previously funded you.
We will follow up with those referees. You're also able to submit letters of
support. What we recommend is that you combine those into a single
document because with only 20 attachments, if you've got lots of letters of
support you're not going to be able to fit them in. So we would encourage
people to get letters of support in but obviously the preference is not for
form letters of support but for ones that are relevant and describe individual
experiences.
Participant 95:
Yes. That includes members of government?
Graham Tanton:
Sorry, you just dropped out that last bit.
Participant 95:
Could those support letters include members of government?
Lisa Wilson:
We don't restrict who you get to provide letters of support from.
Graham Tanton
On that basis, and we have provided all of the sessions with an hour and so we've just hit that
hour mark now. So if you do have any other questions, feel free to submit them through to the
email address or you can call the call centre if you have some questions and they'll escalate
them up to us.
[End of Transcript]
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