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Home>Economic Development
| Hepburn Shire is committed to strong economic development in the region and has a genuine interest in establishing long term relationships with potential developers.
The Shire offers a diverse range of development opportunities and encourages developments that are ecologically sustainable and based on sound environmental principles.
Several of these opportunities lie in the expansion and further development of the forestry industry, private plantation forestry and research and development in temperate eucalyptus technology utilising the existing educational and training facilities located in Creswick.
There are also opportunities in the development of resort/tourist related businesses, as well as holistic health facilities, expertise and products.
Further opportunities exist in tourism product development beyond accommodation and dining such as gourmet foods, recreational opportunities and service oriented businesses related to tourism.
Hepburn Shire has a well established arts community with a broad range of skills offering a unique opportunity for arts development across all media.
Opportunities also exist in the development of high value horticulture, viticulture and organic food crops.
Council will provide assistance to facilitate the establishment of new businesses and the expansion of current businesses and will also coordinate access to information from government agencies.
You may find the External Web Links below useful to look at, as they provide excellent information and advice for small business.
Please click to view the Hepburn Shire Economic Development Business Plan.
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| NEWS | | March 2013
There is a new national Australian Consumer Law (ACL) resource- Small Business Self-Assessment Checklist to help businesses understand how ACL regulations apply to their business activities.
The interactive checklist covers a range of small business issues such as contracts, price advertising requirements, product safety, consumer guarantees, refunds, lay-bys, billing and receipts.
Please click here for a copy of the checklist.
April 2013
ABNAustralia.com.au is a new and exciting registration portal for new start up businesses who wish to get an ABN and/or register for GST.
It is a wonderful tool for small start up businesses looking to achieve registration of a business name, together with ABN registration and GST registration.
Visit www.abnaustralia.com.au for more information.
AusIndustry.gov.au is the Australian Government’s principal business program delivery division in the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education.
The AusIndustry website contains a wealth of information on programs that are designed to assist small to large businesses become more skilled and knowledgeable in their business. Other assistance is also available.
Visit www.Ausindustry.gov.au for more information.
Business.gov.au offers you simple and convenient access to all the government information, forms and services you need. It's a whole-of-government service providing essential information on planning, starting and growing your business.
Visit www.business.gov.au for more information.
May 2013
The ACCC has released a free online education program for small businesses to help them learn about their rights and obligations under Australian competition and consumer laws.
The program is a simple, interactive learning resource which provides a broad overview of the key provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
It includes 10 modules covering topics such as pricing, advertising, consumer rights, selling safe products, unlawful competition and scams.
Each module should take about 15-20 minutes to complete. Users can work through the entire set of modules, or select only those topics most relevant to their business operations.
At the end of most modules, users can do a short self-assessment quiz to test their understanding of the topic.
The free online education program for small business is available at www.ccaeducationprograms.org.
Consumer Affairs Victoria is producing four stakeholder articles for businesses focusing on various topics.
The first article focuses on dispute prevention strategies for businesses. The article provides useful tips and encourages businesses to develop dispute prevention and resolution processes to address potential issues that their customers or clients may have with a product or service. Please click here for a copy of the article.*
The second article focuses on bogus sales websites. Consumer Affairs Victoria has been investigating and shutting down fake sales websites where scammers use legitimate business details to make their website look genuine to scam businesses and consumers. The article also provides 10 tips on how to spot fake websites because we are seeking more and more pop up.
Please click here for a copy of the article.*
*Please note this content was provided by Consumer Affairs Victoria. For more information visit consumer.vic.gov.au/smallbusiness.
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