Australian small businesses are facing a perfect storm of rising costs, high interest rates and collapsing demand because Anthony Albanese’s distracted and divided government has failed to deliver a proper economic plan.

The latest Business Risk Index report from credit reporting bureau, CreditorWatch, provokes serious concern for the health of many Australian businesses. It has found:

  • One in 11 hospitality businesses are set to fail over the next year — as Australian households feel the pain of higher mortgage repayments, rents, power bills and other essentials, Australia’s hospitality sector is being hammered. This means almost one in ten cafes and restaurants could close their doors over the next year alone.
  • The value of business orders is at a record low — the average value of invoices held by businesses has halved over the year to June 2024 as higher prices and declining demand hits the economy. As reported in February, invoice defaults are also at record highs; and
  • The business failure rate has increased by nearly 10 per cent over the past 12 months alone.

⁠Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Industry and Small and Family Business, Sussan Ley, called on Anthony Albanese to take responsibility for the economic deterioration occurring on his watch and under his policies.

“Keeping the doors open at one of our iconic Australian cafes or suburban restaurants is in real question because of the failed economic policies of this distracted and divided Albanese Government,” the Deputy Leader said.

“Shuttered small businesses are the collateral damage of the failures of Anthony Albanese to focus on one his most fundamental jobs, managing the economy – costs are up across the board and along supply chains.

“The loss of almost one in ten hospitality businesses, in the next year alone, is deeply concerning because behind every one of those businesses is a family and a community – this is what happens under Labor governments, they just cannot manage the economy.”

According to CreditorWatch, the regions with the highest risk of business failure are around Western Sydney (six of the top 10) and South-East Queensland, with Bringelly-Green Valley (NSW) the top-ranked region (7.63 per cent chance of default), followed by Merrylands-Guildford and Canterbury.