Earlier this week, the South Australian Business Chamber launched a Virtual Summit to consult with more than 30 industry associations and community bodies to learn how COVID-19 is impacting local organisations across the State. From church and community representatives to agri-bodies, sporting associations and industry groups, the South Australian Business Chamber CEO, Martin Haese and Director of Policy & Advocacy, Andrew McKenna, gained a broader perspective of the pain points local business owners are experiencing as a result of the crisis.
A common theme raised by small business owners was their uncertainty of whether their business’ could be sustained over the next several months. Concerns were prevalent in employers servicing industries that have either shutdown or are experiencing dramatic declines in demand due to government restrictions.
Business owners also spoke of the urgent need for additional cashflow support and suggested a range of viable solutions including payroll tax rebates on current financial year payments, utility cost waivers and GST reimbursements, to name a few.
With some industry sectors operating under incredibly tight margins (primarily road transport operators) representatives were concerned that their businesses would collapse altogether if annual turnover was to fall by 30 per cent (this being an eligibility requirement for the JobKeeper Support Package and a range of other government grants).
Looking forward, many representatives realised the urgent need for digitisation to catapult South Australian businesses into the post-COVID-19 economy. This was met with a strong consensus regarding the varying levels of online functionality amongst local businesses.
The South Australian Business Chamber will be relaying all of this vital feedback from the summit to the Premier’s Industry Response and Recovery Council to ensure the prosperity of the South Australian economy.
