10 resources and services to help small business owners

The Fair Work Ombudsman's Small Business Showcase provides a range of resources to help you manage your employees and meet your employer obligations.

Learn about workplace rights and obligations, including advice and resources on:

• hiring, paying and managing employees
• keeping the right records
• leave and other requests
• ending employment
• small business checklist.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) small business toolkit helps you make sure you know your rights and responsibilities when dealing with customers, competitors, and suppliers.

Workforce Australia provides you with access to free information and services to help advertise job vacancies and recruit staff.

You can access services to help:

• advertise a job
• advertise a harvest job
• find a provider to help them find the right candidates
• discover financial help to hire staff
• train or trial a staff member.

The Small Business Cyber Resilience Service provides free, tailored, person-to-person support for small businesses to improve your cyber security and recover from a cyber incident. The service is delivered by IDCARE, which is Australia and New Zealand's national identity and cyber support service.

The Digital Solutions program helps support small businesses to harness opportunities and grow in the digital economy. Through the program, you can access up to 4 hours of one-on-one digital advice from a qualified and experienced business adviser for a small fee. You can also access free workshops, webinar presentations and self-directed tutorials.

The Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) Essentials to strengthen your small business is a free, online learning platform where you can upskill to build knowledge for all stages of your business. It includes over 30 short, free courses in record keeping, cash flow, deductions, GST, super and more.

Beyond Blue runs the NewAccess for Small Business Owners program – a free and confidential one-on-one mental health coaching program. It helps small business owners manage the pressures that come with running a business. Over 6 sessions, you’ll work with a mental health coach with a small business background. They’ll help you overcome difficult issues by teaching you practical skills to manage stress.

Are you dealing with an Intellectual property (IP) issue? Whether you believe you’ve been copied or accused, IP Australia’s IP First Response can help you understand the options available to you.

To keep your small business secure from cyber threats, the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD ACSC) has a cyber security guide and checklist to help you improve your cyber security.

Dispute Support is an online referral tool that makes it easy to find the most appropriate resolution service to help you resolve your small business dispute.