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Tropical Cyclone Arthur: disaster recovery grants now available16/05/2025If your business was hit by the destructive forces of Tropical Cyclone Arthur during 1-16 March 2025, there’s now additional disaster recovery funding open to Queensland small businesses.
Here’s the lowdown on who’s eligible, how much you can claim and what the process is for putting through a claim for funding.
Who’s eligible for the Exceptional Disaster Assistance Recovery Grants?
Exceptional Disaster Assistance Recovery Grants are available to hire or purchase equipment and materials, clean up, remove debris, replace fencing and other costs associated with the recovery process following Tropical Cyclone Arthur and the associated weather events.
To apply, you need to show:
You’re an eligible primary producer.Your business is situated within the declared disaster area.You’ve suffered direct impact from the disaster.You have photographic evidence of any damage being claimed for.
Full guidelines and details of the eligible areas are available here.
How much can you claim in disaster relief?
The maximum grant amount is $25,000 and can be accessed through the following:
Initial applications up to the total amount of $5,000 are available to support an initial claim. Evidence of the direct damage is required, such as photographs and quotations, tax invoices or official receipts.Subsequent applications up to the total amount of $20,000 are available to support subsequent claims for which full evidence of payment is required.
How do you make a claim for relief?
Providing you have the required documentation and meet the eligibility criteria, you can apply for the grant over a number of applications or two separate applications.
You’ll need the following documents to make a claim:
Your Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) Client ID Number (if you’ve previously applied to QRIDA for assistance).Financial statements and tax returns, including your profit & loss and balance sheet.Rates notice/lease agreement showing you are located within a defined disaster area.Photographs of any damage, including 5-10 photographs evidencing direct damage.Evidence of payment for repairs and cleaning services etc.For grant applications up to $5,000 – copies of tax invoices or quotes/estimates.For grant applications over $5,000 or subsequent applications up to $20,000 – copies of tax invoices AND evidence that these invoices have been paid.Details of your insurance policies and insurance cover.
Talk to us about making a claim for disaster assistance
If your business experienced storm damage during the period 1 to 16 March 2025, you’ve got until 2 April 2026 to make a claim for an Exceptional Disaster Assistance Recovery Grant.
Come and talk to the team and we’ll walk you through the eligibility criteria, the application process and the required documentation that will be needed. [...]
Greater protection against unfair trading practices: what you need to know16/05/2025As reiterated in the recent Federal Budget, the Albanese Labor Government is extending protections against unfair trading practices to small businesses.
This initiative acknowledges the power imbalances you may sometimes experience as a small business dealing with larger entities that have more buying power.
But what do these protections actually mean for your company? What protections are being extended to small businesses?
Let’s take a look at the main points around unfair trading practices and what the current government plans to do to make trading easier for your small business. These measures include:
Extending protections
The Government is addressing a gap in legal protections for small businesses against unfair trading practices, to help support competition.
Consultation
The Treasury will be conducting consultations this year to get feedback from small businesses and to design these protections as effectively as possible.
Principles-based prohibition
The Government is considering a principles-based approach to prohibiting unfair practices, as well as targeting specific unfair practices.
Targeted unfair practices
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has highlighted several unfair practices. These include larger businesses using their bargaining power to pressure smaller suppliers, tactics discouraging small businesses from exercising legal rights and retailers threatening to de-list suppliers.
Levelling the playing field
This initiative builds on existing actions to improve fairness for Australia’s 2.6 million small businesses, including improvements to the Franchising Code of Conduct and new measures to improve payment times.
Talk to us about your experiences of unfair trading practices
Many small businesses find themselves in competition with larger and more powerful enterprises, or negotiating supplier terms that don’t do them any favours.
If you’re looking to level the playing field, come and talk to us about your trading strategy and key ways to take on the big companies. [...]
Possible extension of the $20k instant asset write-off16/05/2025In the 2025 Federal Budget, the Albanese Labor Government made a promise to extend the existing $20k instant asset write-off, if elected.
So, what is the instant asset write-off and how could it be helping your business?
What is the $20k instant asset write-off?
The $20,000 instant asset write-off is a tax measure that allows your eligible small business to immediately deduct the cost of certain depreciable assets costing less than $20,000.
What you get is an immediate tax benefit and simpler tax administration, by making it possible to fully expense lower-value assets in the year they are first used or installed.
The write-off was first introduced as part of the ‘Backing Business Investment initiative in the 2015-16 Federal Budget, with an initial threshold of $20,000 that applied from 12 May 2015 until 30 June 2017
How does the write-off work in 2025?
Under the rules of the write-off, if your small business has an aggregated turnover of less than $10 million, you can deduct:
The full cost of eligible depreciating assets costing less than $20,000 that are first used or installed ready for use between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025.An amount included in the second element (cost addition) of eligible depreciating asset’s cost that they have incurred between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025, if they claimed an immediate deduction for the asset under the simplified depreciation rules in a prior income year where the amount is:The first amount of second element cost incurred after the end of the income year in which the asset was written off; andLess than $20,000.
Talk to us about making use of the instant asset write-off
If your aggregated turnover for the year is less than $10 million, and you’re not already making use of the write-off, now’s the time to explore this possible tax benefit.
Being able to write off the first $20k of investment in new assets is a major bonus, especially if you’re planning to grow the business, or need to reinvest in new equipment.
Talk to the team and we can explain the possible advantages of the write-off [...]
Labor wins Federal Election: the impact for your small business16/05/2025The Australian Labor Party won the 2025 Federal Election with a convincing majority on 3 May. This means Labor has another three years to continue its plans for supporting Australian enterprise, making life easier for small businesses and boosting the use of digital technologies.
Let’s look at the main policies that could have a positive impact for your small business.
1. Extension to the $20k instant asset write-off
Labor committed to extending, and potentially expanding, the $20k instant asset write-off scheme. This would allow your small businesses to immediately deduct the full value of eligible asset purchases, rather than depreciating them over time.
Making use of the instant asset write-off improves your cashflow position and acts as encouragement to invest in new equipment and infrastructure.
2. Tax incentive for employee training and development
Small businesses with an aggregated annual turnover of less than $50 million will be allowed an additional 20% tax deduction for external training courses for employees.
This tax incentive program is aimed specifically at employee training courses, certifications and professional development. This could help to reduce the financial burden of investing in training for your team, while also helping you tackle skills shortages in the business.
3. Energy relief and grants
To help reduce electricity costs, small businesses will receive energy relief until the end of 2025, providing a $150 reduction in energy bills this year. The Energy Efficiency Grants for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) program will also provide $56.7 million in grants of up to $25,000 to over 2,400 businesses, funding a range of energy upgrades, such as replacing inefficient appliances and improving heating systems.
4. Investment in digital technologies
The Technology Investment Boost allows your eligible business to claim additional deductions for expenses like cybersecurity systems, cloud computing subscriptions and e-commerce platform development, potentially saving up to $20,000 per year.
Small businesses with an aggregated annual turnover of less than $50 million will be allowed an additional 20% tax deduction to support their digital transformation and digitise their operations.
Talk to us about making use of these government incentives
Whether you’re a brand new startup, or an established small business, now’s a good time to make use of these government initiatives and tax incentives.
Come and talk to us about your plans for 2025 and beyond, and how incentives like the instant asset write-off and Technology Investment Boost could help your growth strategy. [...]