Tax clinics, startups, and a whole lot of handshakes: On the road with Julie Collins

Last week, SmartCompany was invited to shadow Minister for Small Business Julie Collins as she visited SME support services, advocacy groups, and startups across Greater Sydney.

For the Minister, it was a day to meet members of the small business community, all of whom are affected by decisions made by the federal government.

And for SmartCompany, it was a rare opportunity to observe a day in the life of a Minister championing not one, but three incredibly diverse and demanding portfolios.

Morning

The day begins at Western Sydney University, one of 14 higher education providers offering tax clinic services, where students undertaking tax-related degrees provide free advice and guidance to small business operators.

It is here that young Australians can meet the entrepreneurs who hold some of the billions of dollars in collectable debt owed to the Australian Taxation Office.

The Albanese government committed $9 million to expand the tax clinic scheme in its 2023-2024 budget.

The need for that funding is apparent.

Student volunteers tell Minister Collins about the kinds of clients they assist: some are simply overwhelmed by the BAS and reporting requirements associated with launching a small business.

Others are experiencing financial abuse, struggling with their mental health, and in one instance, find themselves 23 years behind on filing their taxes.

Minister for Small Business Julie Collins (centre) meets with volunteers at the Western Sydney University tax clinic. Source: SmartCompany

More often than not, the clients are exceedingly talented in their chosen field, the students say; they just lack the technical skills needed to stay compliant with tax rules.

The students, under the guidance of an experienced program director, tell the Minister that the tax clinic system does not need to advertise — a rich network of referral services directs potential clients to tax clinics nationwide.

The ATO is also an active supporter of the program, and the meeting is joined by a representative from the tax office itself.

Minister Collins hears a common refrain from both the students, and the ATO: keeping the tax office up-to-date is vital, even if your business might be falling behind financially.

Despite the tough circumstances they may face, the volunteers are clearly proud of their efforts to help entrepreneurs turn their businesses around.

As interest rates surge, and the ATO itself nears the end of its late payment amnesty program, it is clear the clinic will stay busy for some time.

Mid-morning

Parliamentarians are provided with drivers during official working days.

The cars might be nice, but they aren’t magic.

After a slog through Sydney’s morning traffic, the Minister sits down for an interview with SmartCompany.

The interview is an opportunity to ask Minister Collins about the very businesses we just heard about: hard-hit by economic uncertainty, and facing the end of tax office tolerance towards overdue payments.

What does she believe small businesses should do, now that the remnants of lockdown-era payment leniency are fading?

“The earlier you engage with the ATO, the better,” she says.

“Have those conversations. We’ve obviously got an amnesty in terms of BAS and returns that haven’t been done at the moment, so I would encourage people to get in before they end that amnesty.”

The tax office carrying out its statutory duties can help small businesses doing the right thing, she adds, suggesting the ATO can help weed out bad actors gaming the system.

Small Business Minister Julie Collins meets with SmartCompany. Source: SmartCompany

“We want a level playing field,” she adds.

“Small businesses that are doing the right thing are competing with some small businesses that may not be.

“The vast majority of small businesses are doing the right thing: you know, if you make a profit, you pay tax… we all pay tax, and we have a better community because of it.

“And we can do things like providing targeted support to other small businesses, on a level playing field, if we all do the right thing.”

With just moments before her next appointment, Minister Collins orders a cup of tea from the ground-floor cafe: a classic archetype in the small business sector.

You can read more from SmartCompany‘s exclusive interview here.

Midday

Minister Collins has been invited to provide the keynote address at an inner-city lunch event, held by Business Sydney.

It is a showcase for the Minister to herald the digital solutions stream of the Australian Small Business Advisory Services scheme, which received an $18.6 million funding boost last year.

First, the photos: attendees, spanning small business operators through to the leaders of major business representative groups, exchange small talk with the Minister while camera shutters click.

The canapes and business suits give the lunch a very different feel to the grassroots appeal of the tax clinic.

Still, the occasion reflects the great diversity of Australia’s business sector, and the stakeholders vying for the Minister’s consideration.

The advisory services are helping small businesses to set up webstores, build their cyber resiliency, and become more efficient, the Minister tells the audience.

In the speech, Minister Collins expands on the government’s business support strategy through a turbulent economic period.

Minister for Small Business Julie Collins addressing Business NSW. Source: SmartCompany

“I acknowledge that many small businesses continue to be impacted by the current economic conditions,” she says.

“This is why the government is focused on making it easier to do business, improving regulatory settings, consulting on unfair trading practices and supporting the use of digital technology.”

A brief panel discussion follows, in which the Minister joins other experts in highlighting the need to further digitisation among small businesses.

The room — full of those who stand to benefit from such upgrades — delivers a warm response.

But before every attendee can share their thoughts directly with the Minister, she is already traveling across the city for her final public appointment.

Afternoon

With her time split between Canberra and her home on Hobart’s eastern shore, Minister Collins is not always available to accept deliveries.

That fact bodes well for Hubbed, the Australian startup building a network of parcel drop-off locations nationwide, and the last stop on Minister Collins’ Sydney tour.

Out of the city centre and in the leafy, waterfront backstreets of Balmain East, Minister Collins sits down with founder David McLean at Hubbed headquarters.

Joining him are members of the Hubbed team, and representatives from the Australian Business Growth Fund, the government-backed investment fund that injected $12 million into the venture last year.

The visit reflects yet another side of the small business portfolio — the growing startups and scaleups endeavouring to become big themselves.

The Ministerial team’s dash across the city also reflects the rush to meet with stakeholders across the sector in just one day.

As the day draws to an end, the difficulty of handling competing priorities in the small business portfolio becomes clear.

To the tax clinic and its attendees, small business is synonymous with first-time entrepreneurs, who may struggle to balance their work with the obligations that come with it.

For attendees at the business lunch, the needs of small business are centred on digitisation, technological adoption, and the government making it easier to handle data online.

And here, near the waterfront, is evidence that support for local businesses should extend to ventures already expanding into global markets.

In a perfect world, perhaps the Minister could devote a day to hearing from each corner.

It is obvious, too, that wildly different views on the government’s performance for small businesses exist beyond those held by stakeholders on today’s to-visit list.

End of day

The small business portfolio is, of course, just one of three Minister Collins holds.

When asked about the challenges of juggling the portfolios of housing and homelessness with that of small business, Minister Collins says there is considerable overlap.

“Small businesses say to me that skill shortages are still the number one issue,” she says.

“And obviously, skilled workers need somewhere to live, and in regional places in some parts of Australia, that is very difficult in terms of availability and affordability.”

To be certain, Minister Collins did not dedicate her Sydney visit to the small business portfolio: she used much of the previous day highlighting the government’s housing agenda.

Still, against the titanic task of formulating Australia’s housing strategy, she says the day’s itinerary showcases her focus on small business.

“I make a real thing that whenever I am somewhere, I do things in each of my portfolios, each and every time, to make sure that I’m getting the perspectives across both of my portfolios, wherever I am.”

The car wheels up within moments of the Minister stepping outside Hubbed headquarters, and it whisks her towards the next responsibility.