Compensation for owner-drivers who lost revenue when the road safety remuneration order was active in April will be raised by the the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise ombudsman Kate Carnell.
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Ms Carnell said the findings of her inquiry into the order’s effect, which received more than 100 submissions from North East residents, would be made public within the next month.
“We received incredibly sad stories, for some people it was the nail in the coffin for their business,” she said.
“Owner-operators had three, four weeks with no revenue and then some of the work stayed with the bigger companies.”
Ms Carnell said reimbursing damages would be discussed in the report.
“We’ll be arguing the RSRT was fraught from the beginning,” she said.
“There was a huge problem with trying to link road safety with remuneration, because there’s no solid evidence to suggest that owner-operators are less safe drivers than employed drivers.
“Compensation is always difficult because it’s hard to determine what was associated with the RSRT directly … it’s been put on the table so we’ll raise the issue.
“The loss of revenue around the RSRT was at no fault of the people involved, it was a government action.”
Ms Carnell was in Albury by invitation of the Murray Hume Business Enterprise Centre, speaking at its luncheon about challenges faced by small businesses and a possible inquiry into late payments.
“Bigger businesses are paying really slowly, 90 days plus, and small businesses have to pay staff and the bank,” she said.
“Ninety per cent of small businesses that go broke, do so because of cash flow.
“The inquiry will be something we’ll announce in the next couple of weeks.”