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Victorian small business owners to benefit from new translated resources



Victorian small business owners are set to benefit from a new suite of translated resources in Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Dari, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese.

The new resources are from the Victorian Small Business Commission (VSBC), which any Victorian small business owner can come to for help to resolve a dispute with another business or government, or a dispute about retail leases or franchising.

The online materials include:

  • an easy-to-read fact sheet on how the VSBC can help resolve small business disputes
  • a retail leases information brochure with important information tenants need to know before signing
  • an animation on the VSBC’s services with translated voiceover and subtitles.

The languages chosen for translation reflect the needs of established and new Victorian small businesses and advice from multicultural community engagement experts.

Commissioner Judy O’Connell said the resources are an important way for the VSBC to make the small business supports they provide more accessible.

“Our new translations are part of our work to meaningfully engage with culturally and linguistically diverse small business owners in Victoria about their rights and responsibilities and how we can help,” Commissioner O’Connell said.

“It’s important that they know we can help them resolve their dispute, be it through talking with them over the phone or bringing them together with an experienced mediator to find a solution to their issue.”

Mediation through the VSBC is quick, efficient and low-cost, and includes the option of having an interpreter if needed, at no cost to the small business owner.

“It’s also important for us to make our retail leases information brochure more accessible, as this resource helps make sure small business owners know their rights and responsibilities before entering into a retail lease,” Commissioner O’Connell said.

Under the Retail Leases Act 2003, landlords or their agents must provide tenants with the VSBC’s retail leases information brochure and a copy of the proposed lease at the start of negotiations.

Access the new suite of translated materials via the Languages web page.

For media enquiries, contact Christine Harris on 0436 698 132 or at christine.harris@vsbc.vic.gov.au.