Former Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell.
Former Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell has joined the board of Mable, an Aussie startup connecting small business aged care and disability service providers with the users who need them.
Headed up by co-founder and chief Peter Scutt, Mable is intended to offer service users a range of alternatives to the big players, while also providing more flexibility for the SMEs, fostering more personal connections.
It’s also designed to be more cost effective and free from the bureaucracy associated with this sector.
For Carnell, who came to the end of her five-year tenure as small business ombudsman in March, this new board role plays into her passions.
Former Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell.
Australia desperately needs to lift the rate of vaccination to stop the lockdowns that are killing small businesses. So why are governments ignoring the capacity of local pharmacies to help speed up the COVID vaccine roll out?
Australia has approximately 6000 pharmacies spread across the country in rural and regional areas and local shopping centres in all towns and cities. Pharmacies provide a range of health services and advice in addition to prescriptions and other medication.
In recent years, pharmacies have played an important role in the delivery of immunisations, particularly the flu vaccine. In 2020, 3 million Australians had their flu vaccine at their pharmacy.
Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell.
When Kate Carnell reflects on her five years as Small Business Ombudsman, she says her proudest achievement has been in an area that was somewhat unexpected.
Speaking to
SmartCompany from her Canberra office on Monday, as she starts her final week as Ombudsman, Carnell recalls how when she started in the role she asked small businesses what they most wanted her to focus on.
She expected the answer to be industrial relations, but “they said payment times, by a long shot”.
The fact that payment times for small businesses is now a major issue, and that measurable improvements have been made, is at the top of Carnell’s list of highlights from serving as the first Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO).
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Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell.
Small business ombudsman Kate Carnell is calling for tougher regulations for the digital marketing industry, following a rise in complaints from small businesses paying excessive fees for ineffective advertising services.
Carnell and other industry leaders have written to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) requesting it address unscrupulous tactics in the industry using a mandatory code, similar to the banking code of practice.
“We get constant complaints about digital marketing companies giving all sorts of promises to small-to-medium businesses, getting them to sign contracts that can go for years, and in some cases, there are no benefits at all,” Carnell says.