A new deal between federal, state and territory governments aims to reduce the set-up time for new businesses from 18 months to 3 months, through having less red tape. Easy to do business is a pilot being run for new cafes and bars in Parramatta. It is an online form and information sharing service which will bring the NSW Government into the 21st century. Following the 6 month pilot, other councils and industries are expected to be included in the program.

Industry and Innovation Minister Greg Hunt hopes to build on the model he used as environmental minister to halve the environmental approval time, whilst saving businesses approximately $240 million per year.

Assistant Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Craig Laundy mentioned that it currently takes 18 months to set up a cafe in NSW, with business owners having to complete up to 48 forms as well as comply with 75 different regulations across the different levels of government. This project aims to streamline the entire process, assigning a case manager to assist with compliance, in order to slash this red tape and encourage entrepreneurs to enter the market.

A recent NAB Economics survey found that 1 in 3 Australians (1 in 2 young Australians) wanted to start their own business, however, 60% said that the amount of red tape is the one thing holding them back. Given these numbers, we can expect that the number of business start-ups in NSW will increase substantially in coming years. Mr Laundy has been employed full time in order to ensure that a national scheme is able to be implemented in the next 3 years.

References:

http://business.nab.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/The-Lure-of-Entrepreneurship-July-2016.pdf