business.gov.au is an online government resource for the Australian business community. It offers you simple and convenient access to all of the government information, forms and services you need. It’s a whole-of-government service providing essential in

About us | business.gov.au

business.gov.au

business.gov.au is an online government resource for the Australian business community. business.gov.au offers you simple and convenient access to all of the government information, forms and services you need. It’s a whole-of-government service providing essential information on planning, starting and growing your business.

We update our website continuously to ensure the content we provide is current and relevant to Australian businesses. We write the content on our website in plain and simple language so that it’s easy to understand for as many people as possible. Visit our Accessibility page for information on navigating our site.

Watch our Introduction to business.gov.au video for an overview of business.gov.au, and to find out how we can help you.

Our tools and resources

business.gov.au provides a wide range of free services and resources that are useful to businesses.

Our Business Topics focus on all areas of starting, running and growing your business, and link to relevant government websites to help you find the business answers you’re looking for.

Our News and Features are written regularly to inform you about new initiatives, programs, grants, events and other government information relevant for business. Sign up to our free email update service to receive our news and feature items emailed directly to your inbox.

We’ve developed a set of free tools and resources that can help your business start and grow. Our Advisor Finder can help you find government business advisory services in your area. Locate the grants and assistance programs most relevant to your business with our Grants and Assistance Finder. Find government events for business held around Australia, including seminars, training courses and workshops in our Events Calendar. Our Directory of Government and Business Associations lists contact details for federal, state, territory and local government agencies, and non-government associations that may be of assistance to businesses.

Our Business Apps help you develop business, marketing, and emergency management and recovery plans for your business. Our planning templates are also available in Word format.

We’ve created a series of Business Videos, which offer information on starting, running and growing a business in Australia. They cover all of the tools and resources you’ll need for your business.

Our Business Checklists guide you through the various stages of your business, whether you’re just starting out or ready to grow.

Our policies

business.gov.au has a number of policies that document the way we manage our content and social media presence.

Our Content policy defines the scope and nature of the process of collecting, evaluating and publishing information on our site. It covers our reasons for including content, our linking policy, our assessment criteria for our web content and tools, how we maintain discoverability and accuracy, and the current structure of business.gov.au.

Our Social media policy provides guidance on how we use social media tools to deliver services to the Australian business community. It covers our objectives and metrics for social media use, and information on the way we manage our channels.

Business Entry Point Initiative

The Business Entry Point Initiative is funded by the Australian Government and coordinated by the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education , with the support of state and territory governments. It’s overseen by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research and the Minister for Small Business, Chris Bowen; the Minister for Sport, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation, Kate Lundy; and the Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet.

Through the Initiative, the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education manages the business.gov.au website and also develops technical solutions to transform the way that business interacts with the whole of government. We keep our clients and stakeholders informed of our activities and initiatives with the business.gov.au Consultative Forum. Details of our activities are:

• ABN Lookup
• Business consultation
• Content Syndication
• GovForms
• SmartForms
• Super Fund Lookup
• VANguard.

Awards

business.gov.au has received numerous awards in recognition of various online products and services. They include:

• Honorable Mention at the Adobe Max Awards for the business.gov.au SmartForms initiative – Adobe Systems Incorporated (2008).
• United Nations Public Service Award in the category of Application of information and communication technology (ICT) in Government: e-government – United Nations (2006).
• Highly Commended Award for Excellence in e-Government – Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) (2006).
• Government Productivity Innovation Technology Gold Award for Content Syndication – Technology in Government Committee (2003).
• Government Productivity Innovation Gold Award for ABRpublic (now known as ABN Lookup) – Technology in Government Committee (2001).

Evaluation of business.gov.au

In 2008, an independent evaluation of business.gov.au was undertaken by the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education. This involved comprehensive consultations, desktop research, economic modelling as well as a large scale survey of end users. For more details, view the evaluation (PDF, 0.39MB) on the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education website.

Linking to business.gov.au

We invite you to link to business.gov.au from other Australian business-related websites. For a logo style guide or any further information about linking to business.gov.au, please contact our Support team.

Contact us

Contact us for help with finding business information and services, Content Syndication or Business Consultation, or if you have any comments or suggestions about our site.

Connect with us via our social media channels. Join us on Facebook to get the latest business news delivered straight to your news feed. Follow us on Twitter @business_gov_au. Watch our suite of useful business videos on our YouTube channel.

The Small Business Support Line (SBSL) provides information, assistance or referral on a range of small business issues. Call the SBSL on 1800 777 275 or use our Live Chat service to chat to an SBSL agent for business information and referral services. Normal service hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time). The SBSL is closed on Australian National Public Holidays .