The South Australian Business Chamber, the state’s largest member-based employer organisation, is set to release the results of its biennial survey of regional businesses.

SA Business Chamber general manager, programs and consulting Elisa Luck said feedback from regional businesses including the survey data for this year’s Regional Voice Report has revealed a number of pervasive issues.

“Some of the issues or challenges that the regions are experiencing are not dissimilar to what metro businesses are experiencing,” Luck said.

“But in the regions, businesses are reporting they have significant challenges with energy costs, labour costs and access to a skilled workforce.

“Given the interrelationship of labour costs and availability however, regional businesses are likely to be contending with these for a long time.

“There is also the disproportionate cost of upskilling compared to what metropolitan businesses pay. Not all regional areas have access to training facilities equipped to meet their needs, requiring businesses to pay for transport and accommodation in Adelaide.

“Access to housing is proving another enormous issue that is constraining businesses and reducing labour mobility.”

This last point is something SA Business Chamber hears repeatedly.

“If employers can secure the skills or the workforce, there are challenges around the infrastructure and the housing – we do hear that quite a bit,” Luck said.

“Some of the other challenges are around sales peaks and troughs – particularly for businesses in the tourism sector.”

SA Business Chamber has been advocating for payroll tax reform, including a 50 per cent discount for regional businesses, and for other changes to support SA’s small businesses ahead of the state budget on June 6.

This week, its policy and advocacy team and CEO Andrew Kay have been in Mount Gambier running free workshops for businesses on the changes to the Fair Work legislation.

“Recognising that recent changes to industrial relations laws are among the most significant in decades and necessitate all business owners to understand them, we are committed to reaching as many regional businesses as possible,” Luck said.

“The workshops address the key industrial relations changes … the definition of casual workers, changes to union rights of entry rules, the right to disconnect.

“They are significant and will continue to be rolled out until the middle of next year, so we’re educating businesses on what these changes mean, how it’s going to impact them and what they need to do to ensure they comply.”

Since February, the team has held workshops in Port Lincoln, Whyalla and Port Pirie, with Victor Harbor, Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills also lined up.

Luck said they will build on these workshops with additional sessions and town visits as the changes are rolled out. Additionally, they have produced a series of on demand webinars that anyone can view.

The organisation has been supporting the regions with free business workshops for more than a decade, on topics ranging from workplace health and safety to digital marketing strategies.

The regions are home to more than 36,000 small businesses, of which one-third are employers. Additionally, there are 691 businesses employing more than 20 people and 48 employing more than 100.

“Roughly one-third of our more than 3000 members are in regional areas,” Luck said.

She said SA Business Chamber works closely with the local regional chambers, local councils and Regional Development Australia, sharing business intelligence and insights.

SA Business Chamber also runs a free monthly webinar for businesses across the state, available to everyone not just members. A recent one on industrial relations had more than 600 people subscribe and tune in.

Luck has noticed higher rates of female-owned and female-led businesses at their education programs in recent years.

In September, they launched the Business Fundamentals Program with funding from the state government’s Office for Small and Family Business.

The four-month program, delivered in a combination of face to face and online sessions, has seen a good uptake from those in regional areas and from women.

“Even with our South Australian Young Entrepreneurs Scheme, I’d say it’s mainly female start-up business owners that are attending,” she said.

So far, around 60 people are engaged with the Business Fundamentals Program, which has intakes across the year.

While it is still early days yet, Luck said they were seeing participants implementing business strategies and some businesses had been able to diversify their offerings, employ more people and increase revenue and profitability.

The organisation also operates a Business Advice Hotline for members that Luck said is well used by regional businesses.

“[Those using it] may need some support around industrial relations or how to classify their employees under certain awards, or maybe they have an issue they’re grappling with in the workplace around industrial relations or human resources,” Luck said.

The need for such a service can be higher in regional areas where there are fewer resources, and all chamber members, except sole traders, have unlimited access to the hotline.

“What we find with businesses is sometimes they do know the answer to these things, but they just need that peace of mind and support around a decision they might need to make about an employee.”

SA Business Chamber’s Regional Voice Report will be released in the new financial year.

Elisa Luck is a judge for the 40 Under 40 Awards, with SA Chamber of Commerce the sponsor of the Rural and Regional Award. The winners will be announced at a gala event on Thursday, June 27. Purchase tickets here