A new report prepared by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman reveals that only one in four small businesses have a business continuity plan in place that would help them continue to trade in the event of a disaster.
The Small Business Natural Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Inquiry report – conducted by the Ombudsman Bruce Billson at the request of the Australian Government in the wake of the rolling disasters of bushfires, drought and floods and the COVID-19 pandemic – involved the Ombudsman visiting 36 communities across Australia and interacting with small and family businesses impacted by natural disasters, alongside the preparation of an online survey that attracted more than 2000 respondents.
“In the aftermath of natural disasters, we typically see massive and heartbreaking clean-up efforts, a lengthy and hard-going recovery and questions asked about how small and family businesses, and communities will bounce back and what, if anything, could have been done to better prepare,” Billson said.
“It is clear from our work that preparation is key to small and family businesses building resilience and coming through natural disasters in the best possible shape,” he added. “It is equally clear that small and family business owners cannot do this on their own and require clarity and certainty of the support available.”
The report emphasises that governments at all levels and the business community together have a crucial role to play in ensuring small and family business owners have all the information and support they need to manage risks.
It also highlights the key role local government can and do play in providing place-based advice and support to bolster small-business resilience, noting that 97 per cent of money spent by governments on disasters is after the event and only three per cent is on preparedness.
The report made 16 recommendations and findings, chief among them being:
- Ensuring “certainty of response” for small-business owners, so they are automatically elevated in disaster funding arrangements.
- Ensuring “certainty of support” by establishing a business hub after a disaster as a single point to seek help from federal, state, and local government and non-government agencies.
- An opt-in “My Business Record” to allow a small business to digitally store all relevant information that might be needed after a disaster.
- Infrastructure grants to ensure critical infrastructure relied upon during a disaster is fit-for-purpose and remains intact and functioning.
- Availability of government subsidy when workers in a small business are called out for volunteer work for an extended period or a business is required to scale back operations because of volunteer activities.
- When a small business receives an Australian Government grant, an additional amount should be made available six to nine months later for a business health check.
- Addressing the problem of the lack of insurance cover among small businesses.
- Creating an integrated response to disaster risk management
- Addressing the inequity or inconsistency of support that causes a sense of resentment among small-business owners.
Billson said the experiences of many hundreds of small and family businesses showed having a plan will help them be more able to bounce back after a natural disaster.
“Natural disasters can cause lasting harm to the enterprising women and men building businesses, employing local community members, and contributing to the Australian economy,” Billson said. “Simple steps to be ready include ensuring record keeping is up to date, business processes and critical information are, where possible, digitised, and payments to relevant bodies such as the ATO, lenders, and insurers are up to date.”
Billson also paid tribute to the countless selfless and committed individuals and community agencies and advocates who play a vital role to support small and family businesses in the immediate period following a natural disaster and in supporting their long, challenging road to recovery.
