World Bank data says women are a fail-safe investment, so why can’t we access capital in Australia?
A few years ago, when working on an international John Lennon music project, I met with a long list of Angel investors, VCs and lenders. I was amazed, gobsmacked really, by their response. The main barrier was access to capital. And although the barriers were many, the project forged ahead.
I (pictured above) will speak about this experience at the Melbourne and the Sydney Workshops next month. Have you got your ticket for the Access to Capital Workshop yet? Book today!
The month of May, AWCCI focused on encouraging Governments, the Coalition and industry to include self-employed women in their supply chain. After all, you are one in a million, and we all need contracts in business!
Several TV interviews were done, after the Federal Budget was announced, to highlight this important issue. Furthermore:
Elizabeth Broderick, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, says she will assist with getting the message out to the Male Champions of Change so that self-employed women are included in the corporate supply chain.
Wayne Swan™s office says they will consider our request to collect data in order to understand which SMEs are obtaining Federal Government contracts. (Last year $11 billion worth of contracts were awarded to SMEs, yet no data is available to identify if these businesses were indigenous, disabled or women-owned businesses).
The Coalition has advised they are looking at the issue and will consider putting it on the policy table; time will tell.
Lisa Baker is pushing the issue in the WA parliament as well, click here to view WA Supply Bill 2013.
We need to capture data to learn the facts. Without facts we have no information and lest we forget; information is power.
AWCCI will continue advocating for data to be collected by government and industry so we can measure how much, goes where and to whom!
The new AWCCI website will soon be launched to ensure you are able to send your letters of concern to those that make the decisions.
Child Care:
Our proposal to make changes to the system is almost complete. We met with the Hon. Kate Ellis, Minister for Employment Participation, Minister for Child Care, and raised the issues about child care not being affordable nor accessible to the majority. Ms. Ellis advised that she was aware of the costs. However, $2 Billion was just too much to invest in child care! She also advised that many of the issues need to be blamed on the councils and the state governments.
The AWCCI will release the Child Care issues paper with sensible recommendation in the coming weeks; you will have the opportunity to send Ms Ellis a response, from our new website.
Federal Budget 2013
I am sad to report that there was nothing in the Federal Budget specifically for self-employed women.
A new Enterprise Solution Program (ESP), yet to be launched, may provide SMEs with the opportunity to obtain tenders and deliver solutions to government agencies around the country. The funding is just over $27 million. More on this soon…
If you wish for our advocacy work to continue, we need your assistance. Please donate or join us today to help prevent more women from living below the poverty line in Australia.
Need an Office in Sydney?
Three desks are now available for rent, together or separately, in a shared office in Ultimo, NSW. The office is open plan and consists of 7 workstations, a board table, lounge area and kitchenette. Features in the building include: Centrally located to CBD, trains and buses; 2 blocks from Broadway Shopping Centre; spacious well-appointed modern fit-out, dedicated commercial loading dock, lift access and security key card operated outside of business hours. Other tenants include creatives, lawyers, doctors and IT specialists. If you want more information, please contact me.
Warm Regards
Yolanda Vega
