Under a Jess Wilson-led Government, Victoria's maze of 79 separate local business laws will be replaced with one clear set of sensible, statewide rules. Businesses will also be given a single front door to state government.
The plan targets an approvals process that can cost Victorian businesses months of delays and thousands of dollars before they serve a single customer.
As part of our team's plan to make Victoria the best place to do business, a Jess Wilson-led Government will:
- Standardise local business laws across Victoria, lifting model provisions for footpath trading, skip bins and construction sites into state legislation. Councils will continue to administer and enforce these rules and will not be financially disadvantaged by the transition to a consistent, statewide framework.
- Turn Service Victoria into a genuine one-stop shop, where a restaurant can lodge a single application covering planning, food registration, footpath trading and liquor licensing, provide its information once, and track every approval on one platform against published processing times.
- Establish a Business Approvals Concierge, providing a single statewide point of contact to coordinate approvals, resolve delays and settle conflicting advice businesses receive from different arms of government. The Concierge will work directly with councils and state agencies to resolve bottlenecks, rather than creating another layer of bureaucracy or bypassing councils.
- Modernise planning rules for home-based businesses, lifting caps on business floor space and commercial vehicles, and allowing the display of goods, the in-person sale of goods made off-site, and customer collection of goods bought online, as long as the relevant council is satisfied there will be no adverse impact on neighbourhood amenity. Existing heritage protections will be maintained, ensuring reforms will not compromise heritage places or important local character.
The announcement builds on the Liberals and Nationals' ten-year economic plan. The plan includes no new or increased taxes, scrapping the emergency services tax, lifting the payroll tax threshold to $1.2 million by 2028-29, cutting the metropolitan payroll tax rate to 4.8% from 2030-31, lifting the land tax threshold to $300,000 over five years, introducing a $50 weekly toll cap for two years from 1 July 2027, and restoring energy choice to businesses by enabling new conventional gas projects and establishing an Energy Security Requirement.
Leader of the Opposition, Jess Wilson, said: "Victorian businesses should be spending their time serving customers, not filling in multiple forms or navigating different websites.
"Our plan means one set of sensible rules, one application, and one team to help small businesses get going.
"Victoria needs a fresh start, and my team has a plan to deliver it."
Shadow Minister for Small Business and Local Government, Bev McArthur, said: "Everywhere I go, businesses tell me the same thing: government needs to be an enabler, not a blocker.
"You shouldn't need a lawyer to put chairs on a footpath or put a skip bin on a construction site.
"We can make it easier to do business without leaving councils worse off or compromising the heritage and character of our communities.
"We have worked closely with small businesses and councils to develop this plan, because the people dealing with red tape every day are the ones who know best how to cut it."
