ballarat-business-centre

Research Report - Building a culture of cyber safety in Australian small business

Thu, 09 May 2024 23:46:35 GMT

Australian small businesses face cyber security threats every day...

Research highlight: Gaps in basic cyber safety skills

Despite 8 in 10 small businesses experiencing a cyber threat in their lives, most small businesses had not implemented four critical safety measures to protect them from online attacks.

Multi-factor authentication absent in 50% of small business cyber defences: When you turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) , you set a virtual alarm for your small business. Worryingly, there was a significant drop in small businesses enabling MFA for their email accounts, despite email scams leading the type of cyber crimes targeting small businesses.
Sharing passwords is common practice: About 5 in 10 small businesses still record their passwords in one place, like a shared word document. If a cyber criminal gained access to this, it would be the recipe for disaster.
Software updates are lagging in half of small businesses: When your software is not up to date , it leaves cracks in the system that cyber criminals can sneak through. According to the research, half of small businesses don’t have automatic software updates turned on.
Only 1 in 2 small businesses are backing up daily: If a cyber attack hit your business tomorrow, a back up is key to ensure your business can respond and recover. Yet, many don’t have their important business information saved or regularly update it.

Follow the link below to access the full report.

https://cyberwardens.com.au/cyber-safety-small-business-research/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20research%2C%20half,business%20can%20respond%20and%20recover.

Tim Matthews - Past Member - Forge Pizzeria and 1816 Bakehouse

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 05:55:34 GMT

Past member of the Ballarat Business Centre, Tim Matthews, talks to us about his journey in business from being a start up with a shared office space at the Ballarat Business Centre, onto now owning and operating. multi location hospitality business. Ballarat locals will be familair with the Forge Pizzeria and the 1816 Bakehouse, both businesses Tim now operates employing many staff in the Ballarat area.

His story and beginnings with us are worth a listen! Watch here.

Mental Health Smart Hub Project

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 08:02:05 GMT

The Ballarat Business Centre Mental Health Smart Hub Project was initiated late last year with the following objectives;

Our Board’s desire to enhance the services we provide to our Member businesses, and by extension, to their clients and the broader community.
Recognition that approximately 30% of our Members (independent small businesses) work in Allied Health (predominantly Psychologists and Counsellors).
To provide ‘post-Pandemic’ assistance enabling business growth, networking & collaboration opportunities, and innovative service delivery models.
To assist our Allied Health businesses in bridging the ‘Service Delivery Gap’ that exists between the capacity of existing Practitioners and Mental Health frameworks, and Community needs.

We were delighted to be awarded a Business Chambers & Trader Groups Round 3 Grant from Small Business Victoria, Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions, to assist with the Project.

It was decided that the Project objectives would be met through the delivery of three (3) Workshops, and the implementation of a Virtual Practice Hub Microsoft Teams network (the BBC Mental Health Smart Hub).

The three Workshops that were delivered comprised the following:

Workshop 1: Focus on Suicide Awareness & Prevention – Guests were the Ballarat & District Suicide Awareness Network (B&DSAN), and the Ballarat Men’s Mental Health Group (BMMH).

Outcomes were:
Increased awareness of suicide in our community, and the needs of key stakeholder groups to meet that challenge
Business growth for our Allied Health Cohort through new Service Agreements with BMMH
Increased BMMH Psychologist/Counsellor Panel to aid in reducing suicides
Professional Development and Supervisory collaboration within our Cohort
Workshop 2: Focus on Support for Mental Health Research – Guest was Prof. Warren Payne, Executive Director of the Western Alliance Academic Health Research Network.

Outcomes were:
Awareness of the Support role that the Network plays in Health Research
Discussion around the potential engagement opportunities for independent Allied Health businesses
Professional Development and Supervisory collaboration within our Cohort
Workshop 3: Focus on Youth Mental Health – Guest was Prof. Patrick McGorry AO, Chair in Youth Mental Health, Centre for Youth Mental Health, Melbourne University, previously Australian of the Year.

Outcomes were:
Awareness of Youth Mental Health, and more broadly, the community Mental Health issues that Prof. McGorry and his team are confronting at a local, State, and National level.
Professional Development and Supervisory collaboration within our Cohort

Marcus Probert - Past Member at the Ballarat Business Centre

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 03:48:53 GMT

Marcus talks to us about his time with us in the centre, and how that has helped him to expand and take on his own premises.

Click play below - enjoy!

Ballarat Business Month Seminar 2023

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 07:33:23 GMT

B31 event: Cyber security and .au domains for small business

Thursday 10th August 2023 - Flecknoe Building, Ballarat

The Ballarat Business Centre hosted this event as part of Ballarat Business Month (B31).

We welcomed 2 experts to come and present the latest in cyber security and .au domains for small business.

Andrew McCallum (auDA) is the Manager of Membership and Community Engagement at auDA. In that role he is responsible for administering auDA’s membership program, including development of benefits and services for .au members; and auDA’s national event schedule. Andrew is passionate about promoting the .au as a trusted and uniquely Australian national asset, and he has previously worked for membership organisations across the health and legal sectors.

Andrew’s session explained auDA’s role in maintaining a trusted and secure internet for Australians, and how an .au domain can benefit your small business. He also discussed new research that shows more Australians prefer to shop on websites that end in .au, he also provided some free online resources, and information on auDA’s complimentary .au membership program.

Adam Selwood is a co-founder of Cynch Security, a Melbourne based company on a mission to help small businesses prevent a cybersecurity incident (like the recent Medibank and Optus incidents) from becoming one of the worst days of their career!

Prior to co-founding Cynch, Adam developed and led all Cyber Resilience initiatives within Australia Post. With experience in every aspect of developing and deploying complex and scalable cloud solutions, Adam combines his cybersecurity expertise with his passion for building enjoyable experiences to provide accessible and realistic solutions to help businesses meet their cyber security needs.

Adam’s session focussed on building cyber fitness in small and micro businesses. He provided the attendees with a deeper understanding of their cyber security readiness and delivered practical information to enhance their cyber security preparedness. Topics that Andrew covered included:

• Understanding the cyber security landscape

• Current issues and priorities for managing your cyber risk

• Useful tools and services for your small business.

Following our Speakers, refreshments and a light lunch was provided to allow the attendees to network and discuss what they have heard today with others.

We are proud to be able to bring important presentations to Ballarat businesses.

Victorian State Budget 2023 - our response to members

gavin@mulcahy.com.au (Gavin Nash) — Thu, 25 May 2023 04:17:41 GMT

State Budget Response – Ballarat Business Centre

The Andrews government has handed down the Victoria state budget and aims to reduce its debt accumulated during the height of Covid, while funding its election promises.

Big businesses will be taxed further to help repay the state’s debt, but the government has also introduced some relief, including employer insurance and shielding more from payroll tax.

Here’s a breakdown of the key points in this year’s Victorian State Budget.

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Small business:

Victoria will scrap business insurance duty over a 10-year period. The government estimates businesses will save about $3,200 on professional indemnity insurance or $2400 on fire and other special risk insurance over a decade.

The tax-free threshold for payroll tax will also be lifted from $700,000 to $900,000, benefiting 4,200 businesses. A further 22,000 businesses will pay a reduced amount of payroll tax. From 1 July 2025, the payroll tax-free threshold will increase again to $1m.

FREE Kindergartens:
The government will provide $1.4bn for its free kindergarten program and $1.6bn for its new three-year-old kindergarten scheme.

Environment:
Victoria will ban native forest logging from the start of next year, bringing forward a commitment to phase it out by the end of the decade. It comes amid a court challenge against the state-owned timber agency VicForests over the protection of endangered species, which the treasurer, Tim Pallas, cited when explaining the decision to bring forward the end of the industry.

The S.E.C.

The government will spend $1bn to revitalise the state-owned State Electricity Commission to boost jobs in renewable energy, as promised in Labor’s election campaign.

Larger businesses:

From 1 July, large businesses with a national payroll above $10m year will pay additional payroll tax. A rate of 0.5% will apply for businesses with a national payroll above $10m and businesses with a national payroll above $100m will pay an additional 0.5%. The additional rates will be paid on the Victorian share of wages above the relevant threshold and are estimated to raise $3.9bn.

Property Investors:

From January 2024, Victorians who currently pay land tax will be hit with an additional annual fee of $500 for landholdings worth between $50,000 and $100,000 and $975 for land worth between $100,000 and $300,000. For land worth more than $300,000, the $975 fee plus an additional increase of 0.1% will be charged. Family homes will remain exempt from land tax.

860,000 Victorian landowners will be affected, who will pay an average of $1,300 in additional taxes. Some reasoning behind these decisions were: Land values have increased by 84% in the past decade. Rents have also increased by 25% over five years.

Private Schools:

From July 2024, high-fee private schools will no longer be exempt from payroll tax, which will raise $422.2m over three years. Budget papers estimate this will affect about 110 of the state’s most exclusive schools – or the top 15% by fee level. They currently don’t receive capital funding from the government.

Written by Mark Cunningham - Board Member