The Council Of Small Business Organisations Australia has joined several organisations in a joint submission for the Small Business Energy Incentive.
The purpose of this submission is to urge the Government to extend the timeframe for the Incentive to apply until at least 30 June 2025. Without an extended timeline, the Incentive risks failing to achieve its objectives.
As currently proposed, the Incentive would commence on 1 July 2023 and expire on 30 June 2024. However, the legislation underpinning the Incentive is unlikely to be passed by Parliament until August or September 2023 at the earliest, meaning that businesses and their advisors will not have certainty about eligibility – and what they can use the Incentive to invest in – until well into the single financial year to which it is proposed to apply.
Many businesses lack internal energy expertise and will need to access advice to make the most of this Incentive. The advice that small businesses rate most highly is that provided by peak bodies and engineering consulting experts. We note that there is currently no clear or consolidated approach to offer such advice, and we recommend complementing the Incentive with a new program to provide advice and guidance on smart and efficient energy upgrades for small businesses.
Please see here for the full submission.
