Support and resources for your business

Whether your business is new, growing or established, use these resources to support your business, your staff and yourself.

Starting and growing your business

• Council's Business Support service provides broad business advice and support including guidance on Council permits. See our Start and grow a business page. 
• If you're a local business owner and a Boroondara resident or ratepayer, you're eligible for free one-on-one business mentoring sessions to address challenges and explore business development opportunities. Visit our Free business mentoring page. 
• Business Victoria-external site has useful information, tools and templates to help you start and grow your business. You can also subscribe to the Business Victoria newsletter-external site.
• Australian Business License and Information Service (ABLIS) helps you identify licences, regulations, approvals and compliance requirements for your business. Visit the ABLIS website-external site.
• The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) gives information on how to start and manage your business. Visit the ASIC website-external site. 
• Learn about copyright-external site and intellectual property rights-external site, including patents, trademarks and design rights.
• Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people starting, growing or buying a business. Visit the IBA website-external site. 
• Increase your longevity – become a sustainable business. See our Businesses and environmental sustainability page for helpful resources.
• Increase customers by making your business accessible. Visit our Make your business accessible page for guidance.

Creating a safe and harmonious workplace

• WorkSafe Victoria provides information on workplace health and safety obligations. Visit the WorkSafe Victoria website-external site.
• Fair Work Ombudsman Small Business Showcase shares resources to helps you understand your obligations and rights. Visit the Fair Work Ombudsman Small business website-external site.
• Visit the Australian Cyber Security Centre's Small business cyber security guide-external site to help you protect against the most common cyber security incidents.
• Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) provides dispute resolution and support for small and family businesses, and for organisations that help small and family businesses. Visit the ASBFEO website-external site and their My Business Health website-external site.
•  Victorian Small Business Commission-external site offers a range of dispute resolution services. 

Financial support

• Business Victoria-external site provides a variety of grants and programs to support businesses.
• Use Business Australia’s grants and programs finder-external site to find grants, funding and support programs from across government.
• Search all grants and programs across the Victorian Government-external site.
• Use the Support Act website-external site to find crisis relief services for musicians, managers, crew and music workers.
• ASIC's Moneysmart website-external site has plenty of tips on managing money including debt, loans, investing and planning.
• The Australian Banking Association’s financial assistance hub-external site tells you which banking options may be available if you're struggling with business finance.
• The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) offers support if you’re unable to pay tax and superannuation on time. Visit the ATO website-external site. 
• Financial Counselling Australia runs Small Business Debt Helpline (SBDH) to give free, confidential advice to small businesses struggling with finances. Visit the SBDH website-external site.

Mental health and wellbeing support

• Visit our Counselling and mental health page to find mental health services both local and national.
• Business Victoria’s Workplace Wellbeing website-external site is a hub for mental health and wellbeing support for sole traders, small businesses and employees.
• Partners in Wellbeing offers free, one-on-one support to improve financial, business and emotional wellbeing for small business owners and employees. Visit the Partners in Wellbeing website-external site. 
• NewAccess for Small Business Owners-external site is a free, guided self-help mental health coaching program developed by Beyond Blue. No GP referral is needed.
• Register for free to Business Victoria's Mindarma online program-external site, offering 10 short, interactive sessions that teach mindfulness and other cognitive skills.
• Heads Up website-external site provides training and resources to support mental wellbeing in the workplace.
• Ahead for Business-external site provides personalised tools to support small business' mental health and wellbeing.
• WorkSafe Victoria’s WorkWell Toolkit-external site gives you practical resources for preventing mental injury in your workplace.
• The Healthy Workplace Achievement Program-external site draws on the World Health Organisation's Healthy Workplaces model to promote health and healthy behaviours at work.

Recruiting staff

• Workforce Australia’s Recruit for your business hub-external site helps you to hire, train and trial staff.
• Jobs Victoria-external site offers free recruitment support to connect employers with people looking for work.
• Incentives are available for eligible employers to help hire, train and retain apprentices. Visit the Australian Government's Australian Apprenticeships website-external site. 
• The Victorian Government’s Digital Jobs program-external site offers incentives for employers to host participants as they upskill and transition into a new digital career.

Expanding your knowledge and skills

• We hold regular workshops on many business topics and offer networking opportunities throughout the year. Visit our Business news and events page to see what’s coming up, and sign up to our BizBits newsletter to stay up-to-date.
• Business Victoria’s Courses and webinars page-external site lists short courses, online events and resources from education providers and industry experts to help you skill up and run your business better.
• Find government-run or -funded events and training for your business at Business Australia’s Events and training finder-external site.
• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's online education programs-external site teach small businesses about their rights and obligations under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
• The Digital Solutions program-external site provides eligible businesses with low-cost access to business mentoring, online workshops and digital strategy development to help Victorian small businesses thrive online. 

Promoting your business

• Promote your Boroondara business for free in the Love Local Life business directory-external site and at @boroondaralife on Facebook-external site and Instagram-external site. 
• Register your business with VendorPanel Marketplace, a database which helps businesses find suppliers for goods, services and major works. Find out more on our Doing business with Council page. 
• Enhance your shop's attraction by improving how it looks. Find tips, support and guides on our Visual merchandising page. 
• Business Australia's website-external site gives you tips on how to research your market and reach your customers.
• If your business is in an area represented by a local business or trader association, they can include you in their local business directory, social media channels and local activations and events. Contact your local association: Ashburton Village-external site, Auburn Village, Burwood Village-external site, Camberwell Junction-external site, Glenferrie Hawthorn-external site, Greythorn Central-external site, Hartwell, Kew Junction-external site, Maling Road-external site, The Village Balwyn North-external site.

Contact us

For more information or assistance, contact the Local Economies team at [email protected] or on (03) 9278 4444.