The Business Council of Australia welcomes the government's plan to use its purchasing power to ensure a fair deal for small business suppliers.
"When business thrives, the whole country thrives. We know that paying small business suppliers on time is critical to easing stress, supporting their ability to expand and keeping healthy cash flows. It is also the right thing to do," Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said today.
"That's why we took the initiative over a year ago to introduce the Australian supplier payment code which commits signatories to pay small business suppliers within 30 days of receiving a correct invoice.
"The relationship between small, medium and large businesses is worth about $500 billion a year to the Australian economy. The stronger we can make this relationship, the stronger we can make the country.
"Since we launched the code 85 businesses and organisations with a collective revenue of more than $416 billion have adopted it.
"This is a great start but there's more to do and I urge everyone, including business, state and local governments, to commit to this important initiative.
"The code also obliges large companies to work with small business suppliers to implement new technologies and practices that will assist them with more efficient invoicing and payment.
"We look forward to working with the government on the detail of its announcement and to improve payment times across the economy."
