Given the extraordinary challenges posed by COVID-19, Australian businesses have had to quickly adapt to a digital economy and remote working. Despite some early hiccups, the transition has been very successful for many and Australia appears set to herald a new age in flexible, online working. The government is keen to support this digitisation of business activity, stating that it is its goal “for Australia to be a leading digital economy by 2030”.

Digital Business Plan

To reflect the Government’s renewed digitisation initiative, the Budget allocates $796.5 million to a new four-year Digital Business Plan as part of the JobMaker Plan. The Digital Business Plan has the following four pillars:

• Modern digital infrastructure;
• Reduced regulatory barriers;
• Small and medium enterprise support and capability; and
• A digital government that is easier to do business with.

$22.1 million has been allocated to establish the Australian 5G Innovation Initiative, and $7.2 million has been allocated to support the accelerated deployment of 5G infrastructure. New investments of $4.5 billion are proposed to be made in the NBN, funded by private debt markets.

Further amounts are allocated to the implementation of the Consumer Data Right (which will give consumers greater access to, and control over, their data), streamlining of Government administration and simplified regulatory compliance, support for fintech start-ups and work into the application of blockchain tech to reduce regulatory compliance.

Notably and very helpfully for many, reforms will be made to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to allow meetings to be held with virtual attendance and to provide certainty that company officers can electronically execute a document. This will likely piggyback off changes quickly passed earlier this year in various States and at the Commonwealth level to allow for electronic signatures and remote witnessing.

SME digital capability will be supported with $19.2 million in funds allocated to expand the Australian Small Business Advisory Services – Digital Solutions program, $3 million to develop a Digital Readiness Tool for businesses, and $2.5 million to support a Digital Skills Finder Platform to help workers and SMEs find digital skills training courses.

The Government is also making significant efforts to update its technology, with $419.9 million allocated to transfer existing business registers to a modernised platform, $256.6 million to expand “Digital Identity” to improve access to government services and payments online, and smaller amounts to adopt e-invoicing across government and to review the governance and regulation of Australia’s domestic payments system.

Other measures

Separately to the Digital Business Plan, the Government will:

• establish the Australian Broadband Advisory Council to assist in maximising the economic benefits of increased digital connectivity for Australian businesses and consumers;
• allocate money to help older Australians increase their digital literacy; and
• fund the continued operation of the Australian Digital Health Agency.