Consult Australia’s advocacy efforts for small businesses are currently focused on making insurance more affordable, cutting red tape and expanding its library of resources. Discover how our work supports your business and how you can make the most of your membership.

Kristy Eulenstein, Consult Australia’s Head of Policy and Government Relations, loves her new nickname. 

‘Special K’ is the name the Hon Bruce Billson, Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), has chosen to call Kristy, thanks to her specialist expertise in insurance and her passion for small member advocacy. 

This month, Kristy has been busy reflecting that expertise and passion in her representations for Consult Australia members in several influential forums.

Insurance Council of Australia

Kristy is an inaugural member of the Insurance Council of Australia’s Business Advisory Council (BAC), which first convened in October 2021. The Council was established to address affordability and availability of commercial insurance products for small and medium-sized businesses.

The forum includes representatives from ASBFEO, and from the offices of the NSW Small Business Commissioner and the Queensland Small Business Commissioner.

“Consult Australia is the only member-based association that provides ongoing representation. All other members represent associations. This forum is a vital avenue to influence government.”

At the latest BAC meeting, Kristy highlighted the impact of the NSW Practice Standard for Professional Engineers on consulting engineering businesses.

While there has been some ‘softening’ of market conditions in the insurance sector, Kristy says ongoing disputation and claims against consultant professional indemnity insurance are concerning. Insurance experts at Bellrock Advisory have noted that the insurance market is at ‘one o’clock’. “We are telling clients not to get ‘too excited’ about potential softening, because it cannot last if we don’t address the claims and disputes,” Kristy says.

As part of the May Budget, the Albanese Government announced its intention to establish an Insurance Affordability and Natural Hazards Risk Reduction Taskforce. This Taskforce will work with insurers and local communities to improve insurance affordability in light of more frequent and intense weather events.

“While the Taskforce will be focused on natural hazards, it recognises that insurance needs an integrated, cross-government approach – something we welcome,” Kristy says.

 Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman

Half of all Australian small businesses say the operating environment has got harder in the last 12 months, according to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 2024 Small Business Conditions Survey. Eight in 10 small business owners surveyed this year said red tape had a moderate or major impact on their operations.

Kristy recently represented Consult Australia members at the ASBFEO Policy Forum – “an ideal opportunity to share intelligence about business conditions and discuss proposals to improve the competitive and operational environment of our members,” she says.

“We raised the issue of the ever-growing ‘one size fits all approach’ that governments take when they seek information from businesses at the tender stage.”

“Each year, government clients ask for more information from businesses about their business. Background company financial data, information security maturity, disaster recovery plans, Reconciliation Action Plans and Modern Slavery reporting – the list seems endless. Rarely is a small business lens applied to requests to determine if they are necessary.”

“We will continue to push for coordinated, streamlined processes that consider the unique needs of small businesses."

ASBFEO has developed a suite of services and tools that can help Consult Australia members. These include: 

New Member Resources portal

Consult Australia’s new Member Resources portal is available to all employees of member businesses.

Employees can use their WebUser login to access around 50 resources across diverse topic of contracting, law and ethics, personnel matters and mental health. 

The portal includes member-only Business Guides to help build internal capability, as well as Client Briefings to aid in knowledge-sharing with clients. 

“Sometimes you want to say to clients ‘Look, it isn’t just me, Consult Australia says so too.’ That’s why we developed Client Briefings.”

Standard contracts are even easier to download via the portal. New resources will be regularly added.

Non-members now have access to the Centre for Contracting and Risk, which allows them to purchase PDF versions of the entire Contract Suite that is freely available with Consult Australia membership.

“As the only association dedicated to the success of businesses in design, advisory and engineering Consult Australia is committed to providing you with the resources you need to support the success of your business,” Kristy says.

“We can only act when our members tell us what they need. Our advocacy is proudly member-led in practice, not just in words. So please get in touch.” 

Visit the Member Resources portal and see what’s on offer today. Take a look at our Making the Most of Membership guide and let the Consult Australia team know how we can help.