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Cross border collaboration a winner for small business operators

There is a lot to be excited about in the Gold Coast/Tweed Region as the two Councils have been working diligently since the beginning of the year to make it easier for small and home-based businesses operating in the regions to comply with Council requirements for licences and permits. This has been made possible through a grant from the Australian Government under the $50 million Regulation Reduction Incentive Fund that was announced by the Minister for Small Business and Tourism, Fran Bailey, more than a year ago.

Gold Coast City Council successfully applied for two grants under the program totalling almost $1.8million, for projects that aim to reduce the compliance burden for small and home-based businesses.

The largest project received $1.2million to develop and implement a range of initiatives that will create a simplified licence, information and compliance environment (SLICE) for small businesses on the Gold Coast.

It is expected that these initiatives will result in savings of more than $15 million a year for small and home-based businesses.

The SLICE project will be 'making it simple' for small businesses needing environmental and health related permits and licences by providing:

• A 'no fees and charges' policy to reduce business start-up and operating costs
  For eligible businesses, the Gold Coast City Council has waived all environmental and health related licensing fees from more than 100 services across a wide range of businesses.
• Easy access to information to help businesses comply with regulations
  By enabling a clear understanding of "What is required at application stage," and "How do I comply when operating?" Council is being proactive in promoting voluntary compliance and some of the activities being undertaken to achieve this include introductory meetings with first time operators, compliance guides, image galleries, and self assessment checklists.
• Streamlining the licensing administration process to reduce the paperwork of small business
  One of the initiatives to achieve this aim was installing a new licensing system, which will result in reduced paperwork for businesses, enhanced processing of applications, and the ability to renew licences online.

The other successful project, Seamless Border, received a $570,000 grant to focus on building a competitive economic zone for the Gold Coast and Tweed Region, by aligning and reducing cross border regulation. This will be especially helpful to those businesses which are operating or wish to operate both sides of the Queensland and New South Wales border. Some of these businesses are mobile hairdressing, catering, busking, mobile waste removal services, mobile roadside vending, building construction activities, passenger transport operations and businesses using commercial vehicles.

To date, many of businesses have found it is a nightmare trying to undertake their activities, especially where they are confronted with conflicting regulatory compliance burdens, due to the need to comply with variations in Queensland and New South Wales regulations, as well as variations in the Councils' requirements.

Through the project, a single entry point for small and home-based businesses will be provided in the Seamless Border Tweed/Gold Coast region to integrate information and services from the two Councils plus the two State Governments, and therefore reduce the compliance burden.

This project will complement work being undertaken by the region's existing Cross Border Working Party and that of the New South Wales and Queensland Governments.

Further information about these projects can be obtained from the project teams.

For the SLICE Project, contact Gold Coast City Council's website goldcoast.qld.gov.au, email slice@goldcoast.qld.gov.au or phone Charles Robinson on (07) 5581 6220.

And for the Seamless Borders Project, contact Linda Cunningham at Gold Coast City Council on (07) 5581 7731 or lcunningham@goldcoast.qld.gov.au or Daniel Westall at Tweed Shire Council on (02) 6670 2640 or dwestall@tweed.nsw.gov.au

For information about the Regulation Reduction Incentive Fund go to www.ausindustry.gov.au and click on AusIndustry Products and then scroll down alphabetically to the Regulation Reduction Incentive Fund.

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