From left: Mark Schramm, Dr Martin Samy from the Faculty of Business and Economics Monash Berwick, and Dr Piero Ammirato.SENIOR investigation officer Dr Piero Ammirato and manager of compliance Mark Schramm from the office of the Small Business Commissioner were guest speakers at a Monash University seminar last month.
They explained the functions of their office and rights of small business in Victoria.
Monash University Berwick Business and Education Group (MUBBEG) conducted the event as part of its 2005 seminar series.
Dr Ammirato said the office could help small businesses by providing information and education so that “no business should fail through want of access to information”.
He said it could also help businesses deal with government departments and agencies, investigate complaints, whether they be between businesses, businesses and government or between landlord and tenants, and provide cheap and prompt dispute resolution services.
Mr Schramm said the charge for the mediation services was less than $100, and the service had achieved a 74 per cent success rate.
“Statistics showed that the office had dealt with 40 disputes from the City of Casey, which was only three per cent of the total disputes it had dealt with,” he said.
Dr Ammirato could not say whether this was because there were fewer disputes in Casey or if there was a lack of knowledge about the services provided by the office.
But said his office was keen to get its message out to all small business communities and he welcomed the chance to do so at seminars such the one conducted by MUBBEG.
Deputy head of the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash Berwick and head of MUBBEG Daniel Khoury said the seminar series was aimed at presenting issues of relevance to the local community and the Wednesday seminar was indicative of that aim.
“The next seminar to be held on Thursday, 25 August will deal with business succession planning,” he said.
“We are sure this will attract many representatives from local businesses,” he said.
Anyone interested in joining MUBBEG as a full member or in attending a particular function can contact community projects officer Judy Parker at Monash University Berwick on 9904 7081.
