Give it a go

05 Mar Give it a go

Give it a go

Dear Here to Help,
I am part of a small industry association. We are having some issues with the law, that seems to treat smaller businesses more harshly than large businesses in our sector. We feel like we should ask government to improve the way the law operates. However, the industry is split. Some people feel that it is our right to ask government to improve the law. Other people feel that it is risky to engage with government, as we might end up worse off in this, or other areas.
What do you advise?

Thanks for your query.

The short response is “give it a go!” If you approach government respectfully, using well-argued information, you will generally come out of it with good results. In fact, in my experience, we have always obtained positive results for the industry.
Government creates its decisions (called “public policy”) using a process. This process includes public consultation. Most Australian governments have a website that lists their consultations. What makes this harder is that each government department has its own website with its own consultations. So, you need to know which department is relevant for your area of interest, or somebody needs to have told you about the consultation (and given you the link). Consultations also only run for a specific time.

Government knows that this system is imperfect. In particular, small businesses, smaller industries or professions and individuals often do not find out about these consultations in time. If they do find out about the consultation, it is often because they are adversely affected once the change had been implemented. It can be difficult to find out who in government is responsible for the decision afterwards.

For example, I had a client come to me when government made a decision to change funding for the industry. Government had consulted the big players in the industry, who suggested changes. In fact, those changes meant that this small sub-sector of the industry would be paid one third less than everyone else. We went to government and they confirmed this had not been their intention and the decision was reversed.

Do you sometimes end up worse off through this process? Not that I have seen overall. That said, compromise is an important part of any negotiation – so be prepared to lose battles to win the war.

Be assured that government wants public policy to work well for small businesses and government wants to hear from you. It is simply a matter of finding the right person to talk to and framing your conversation in a respectful, helpful way. This means focusing on solutions and clearly identifying the problems they solve. Be prepared to compromise and remember that government people are just like you and I – they have families to go home to and deserve to be treated respectfully and kindly.

This article comes from my column entitled “Here to Help” in Hunter Local, March 2023. If you have an everyday problem just begging for a simple, real world solution, send it to “Here to Help” and let’s see what we can achieve.

Elaine Abery has a closet full of great ideas and empowering solutions. She’s also the Director of Unravelling Red Tape, a company dedicated to helping everyday people, not-for-profits and companies change the world through improved decision-making and legislation.