South Australian businesses are spending significantly more time on regulatory compliance than they were 12 months ago according to the latest findings from the South Australian Business Chamber and William Buck Survey of Business Expectations, released today.
The September quarter survey found the main contributors to the compliance burden to be dealing with industrial relations (57.3%), work, health and safety (56.5%) and tax compliance (52.2%). A further 36.2% of businesses said they were having to devote more time to environmental regulations, and 28% claimed local government regulations were becoming more time consuming.
CEO of the South Australian Business Chamber, Andrew Kay says “Every extra hour spent dealing with compliance is an hour taken away from growing a business, creating local jobs, and supporting South Australian consumers.”
“The cumulative effect of dealing with growing regulatory demands and ongoing cost increases is driving many businesses to the point of despair,” said Mr Kay.
“As one construction business told us “There are more and more regulations, laws and rules around that need to be navigated…the world is not a better place, just a more costly one.”
The General Business Conditions Index measured by the survey sits at 81.9 points, having declined 13.8 points in the last year and 0.8 points since the September quarter. It is some time since it sat above 100 in positive territory, dropping 20.8 points in the last two years.
There is slightly better news for South Australian business confidence which has increased by 3.4 points to 86.4 points, but still remains well in negative territory for the twelfth consecutive quarter. Only 15.9% of businesses are expecting an improvement in the state’s economy over the next 12 months,
“These results reflect the fact that it remains tough going for many South Australian businesses,” said Mr. Kay. “Cost pressures and a profitability squeeze remain a constant that is yet to show signs of abating.”
