A new, government-backed information hub promises to assist small businesses navigating the complex industrial relations landscape — while offering an artificial intelligence chatbot to handle business queries.
Small Business Peak, launched last week, is a new digital project from the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA).
Its core website offers free information sheets, timelines, and in-depth explanations of changing industrial relations legislation.
It covers updates like the minimum wage increase, which came into effect July 1, along with changes to casual employment and the ‘right to disconnect’, both of which apply from August 26.
Other wholesale changes to the industrial relations landscape, underpinned by the Secure Jobs, Better Pay and Closing Loopholes bills, are covered by Small Business Peak materials.
The information hub will be updated to reflect future changes when they are legislated.
Luke Achterstraat, COSBOA CEO, said it was vital for small businesses to have a handle on the changing industrial relations landscape.
“Small businesses need to understand which IR changes apply to their operations, when they come into effect and how to ensure they meet their employer and business reporting responsibilities,” he said.
The resources will “save time and make it easier” for traders to find the information they need, he added.
Beyond written fact sheets, Small Business Peak promises users access to an AI-powered chatbot capable of answering basic questions about industrial relations reform.
The chatbot will be ‘trained’ on documents spelling out relevant legal and regulatory changes.
“This means busy small business owners can receive speedy responses to their high-level questions with answers they can rely on,” Achterstraat said.
The chatbot is not yet live, but is expected to come online in the next month, pending final testing.
While users wait for access, the website states the chatbot should be used for general queries only.
“The chatbot uses artificial intelligence to apply workplace legislation to small business settings across the widest possible range of industry sectors,” the website states.
“For general guidance about industrial relations changes the answers it provides can be trusted, however, if you need specific counsel about your business circumstances, you should seek your own independent legal advice.”
The Small Business Peak website also directs users to the official websites of the Fair Work Ombudsman, Safe Work Australia, the Australian Taxation Office, and more, to assist with more specific inquiries.
Small Business Peak is backed by the Australian Government’s Department of Employment and Workplace Relations through its Productivity Education and Training Fund.
The fund, which earned $60 million in funding over four years in the 2024-2025 federal budget, is intended to help business representative groups and unions inform their members of relevant regulatory changes.
COSBOA is one of several major employer groups to gain grant funding.
It is not the first time COSBOA has been entrusted with taxpayer funding to deliver small business education: its Cyber Wardens program was backed with $23.4 million to help SMEs fend off digital threats.
However, Small Business Peak is one of the first times an explicitly AI-powered chatbot will be used to outline regulatory changes with the government’s blessing.
AI functionality is already deployed in the private sector to help small businesses understand their legal, tax, and employment obligations, but is still a new frontier in official government and government-backed communications.
For its part, COSBOA believes AI can be used effectively and responsibly, and has called for the establishment of a national strategy to manage its risks and opportunities.
In an October 2023 joint statement, co-signed by fellow business representatives and the Tech Council of Australia, COSBOA said the economy could lose out without a clear set of rules.
“In the absence of national leadership, Australia will fall behind the world in seizing the economic opportunity of AI, and fail to prepare our workers with the skills they need to use it in their jobs,” it said.
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Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
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