Economy

Leading financing company OptiPay has seen a 25% increase in its utilisation rate for invoice financing, showing Australian SMEs are in dire need of cash. “More of our clients are needing to access their invoice financing facility to free up cash for their business,” says OptiPay CEO

It is often said small business is the engine room of the economy. We must ensure small and family business can fire on all cylinders – not have a cylinder taken out. We need to get the risk and reward balance right, make small business

Many younger Australians and lower income households are spending up to one-quarter of their net income on groceries, according to responses so far to the consumer survey which is part of the ACCC’s Supermarkets Inquiry. Households have also told the ACCC that to reduce their

The National Retail Association has called on the Federal Government to look seriously at the crisis confronting Australian retail, rather than celebrating the Taylor Swift sugar hit to retail sales in February. National Retail Association Director Rob Godwin said it would be a mistake for

Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have bitten over the past few years. So too have prices. Though many of us became upset

The Council of Small Business Organisations (COSBOA) has recommended that legislative wage increases should be between 2-3% for this year’s determination. The Australian Small and Family Business Ombudsman recently found in its Small Business Matters report that: 43 percent of small businesses were not making

Ballooning wages bills, energy costs and insurance premiums are driving a pessimistic outlook for Australia’s retail businesses, promoting calls for the Government to put the cost-of-trading on the Federal Budget agenda. The National Retail Association today released its 2024 Retail Sentiment Report, which has revealed

Employment Hero’s latest SME Index, which draws from an expansive dataset of over 1.5 million employees and  150,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs), has uncovered a concerning trend: Australians are working longer hours for reduced wages, with small businesses bearing the brunt of the economic

Entering the new year, cost-of-living has been making headlines across Australia, in our households and within the halls of power alike. Every policymaker in the country, from parliamentarians to the Reserve Bank, seem to be throwing every tool in their war chest at the elusive