ABOUT THE SBDC
Our history
Find out more about the history of the SBDC and how we have supported business owners in Western Australia.
For more than 40 years the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) has supported the small business sector in Western Australia by helping them start well, survive and thrive.
SBDC 40th Anniversary Timeline
Find out more about the significant milestones the agency has achieved in its 40 years of operations.
Share
Small Business Development Corporation Act 1983 was passed in Parliament, to establish the “Small Business Development Corporation” to encourage, promote, facilitate and assist the establishment, development and carrying on of small business in the State.
The Small Business Development Corporation officially opened on 3 January 1984.
The first Business and Technology Information Centre for small business, ‘First Base’, opened in December 1985, the first of its kind in Australia.
As small businesses needed to adopt changing technology, the SBDC introduced the Business Information Technology Service to provide IT advice for small business. The agency pioneered satellite transmission across WA to launch Small Business Week.
Ten regional Small Business Centres opened over two years in Albany, Broome, Carnarvon, Derby, Fremantle, Geraldton, Karratha, Manjimup, Margaret River and Rockingham.
The WA Enterprise Awards were developed to recognise the many achievements of the Western Australian small business sector, while the SBDC led the first all women trade delegation to Indonesia to explore export markets.
The SBDC was appointed as the WA Government Agent for the Business Skills Migration program. Which was followed by the opening of the Business Migration Centre on 8 October 2002.
A Business Innovation Development Scheme and a Women in Export program were established. The ‘StartSmart’ planning program was introduced to determine business viability.
The SBDC established a GST Transition Centre for small business, the only one of its kind in Australia, in collaboration with the Australian Taxation Office. The GST Transition Centre was opened to help small business owners prepare for the introduction of GST on 1 July 2000.
A Small Business Initiatives Fund for regional businesses was established to provide a funding source for the Business Enterprise Network. The fund enables Centres to identify local business needs, develop project proposals aimed at addressing those needs and deliver business development initiatives throughout their network.
- The TradeStart program provided free one-on-one assistance for new exporters including coaching, assistance with prioritising markets and meeting overseas specialists, and providing qualified market contracts and follow up.
- Received national recognition for WA as top Australian destination for business migrants.
- The SBDC developed workshops to up-skill business owners and staff to help beat skills shortages.
In 2006 the SBDC launched the Small Business Centre Network. A total of 26 regionally focussed centres opened, operating within five regional zones, providing locally delivered small business services. The network was managed by volunteer management committees which employed a facilitator to provide guidance and information to small businesses. The 131 BIZ hotline was also introduced.
In response to acute shortages of skilled labour in the resources and construction sectors, the SBDC launched the Go West Now campaign to attract interstate workers to Western Australia. More than 5,200 skilled workers registered their interest to move to Western Australia in the first year.
The Global Financial Crisis, created by the collapse of the US housing market, struck, affecting world economies. In 2009 the $1 million BIZFIT resilience program was rolled out in response the GFC.
The SBDC partnered with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, and the Department of Training and Workforce Development to develop the Aboriginal Business Directory WA.
The SBDC launched its free online Business Licence Finder to help WA businesses find out which local, state and federal licences they needed.
The position of Small Business Commissioner was established by the Western Australian Parliament, through the Small Business Development Corporation Act 1983.
Curtin Ignition is an intensive training program for aspiring entrepreneurs, academics and corporate innovators to trial and then prepare business ideas for the commercial environment.
The Alternative Dispute Resolution Service (ADR) was established to receive and investigate complaints from Western Australian businesses about disputes arising from unfair market practices and to provide assistance to resolve these disputes. The ADR Service (now known as the Dispute Resolution Service) provides a low-cost, non-litigious means of resolving business-to-business and business-to-government disputes as an alternative to the court and tribunal systems.
- Business Local was launched in July 2015 to deliver business assistance across 12 economic regions in regional Western Australia.
- WA’s first Small Business Day was held on 11 July 2015 as part of the new Small Business Matters movement.
The initiative aims to recognise local government authorities in Western Australia that are committed to actively supporting small businesses.
The Small Business Friendly Approvals pilot project was launched, through which the SBDC worked closely with the Cities of Canning and Stirling to fast-track the reform of their approvals processes.
- The SBDC acted as a COVID-19 Business Assistance Centre on behalf of the WA Government providing critical advice, resources and support for WA business owners in the face of the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation.
- The SBDC contributed the Commercial Tenancies (COVID-19 Response) Act 2020 including rent relief measures to help small business tenants who suffered financially during the pandemic.
- The PIVOT business resilience program commenced in July 2020 to mentor businesses to adapt their business model in response to new operating conditions.
In the five years since the Small Business Friendly Local Government program was launched, a total of 51 local government authorities joined the landmark initiative, which acknowledges and encourages councils that support small businesses in their local areas.
In March 2022 the Small Business Development (COVID-19 Response) Act 2022 was enacted to allow the SBDC to deliver financial assistance to businesses. By 2023 the SBDC had finalised the distribution of more than $250 million in COVID-19 business assistance grants on behalf of the State Government.
- A $2.2 million WA Government Small Business Friendly Approvals Program was concluded as part of the Streamline WA initiative.
- In December 2023, the SBDC was awarded an IPAA WA Achievement Award in the silver category for Best Practice in Collaboration Across Government Agencies for the Small Business Friendly Approvals Program.
