La interacción con los papás y las mamás

4.12 In May 2003, the Office of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner (VSBC) was established under the Small Business Commissioner Act 2003 (Vic) to promote greater fairness in business through its four main functions:

information and education, review of government practices, investigation of small business complaints and dispute resolution.¹⁰¹ Under the 2003 Act, among the functions of the office under section 5 are the provision of information:

S5(b) - to promote informed decision-making by small businesses in order to minimise disputes with other businesses;

and

S5(c) - to receive and investigate complaints by small businesses regarding unfair market practices and mediate between the parties involved in the complaint.

4.13 The VSBC mediates matters under the Retail Tenancy Act 2003 (Vic), the Small Business Commissioner Act 2003 (Vic), the Owners Drivers and Forestry

Contractors Act 2005 (Vic), and in December 2011, the Office of the Small Business Commissioner began to provide the mediation scheme set out under the Farm Debt Mediation Act 2011 (Vic). The 2011 Annual Report suggests that approximately 75 per cent of the VSBC’s dispute resolution activities usually come from the Retail Tenancy sector,102 and that in 2011, the figure was around 70 per cent.103

4.14 From 1 May 2003 until 31 December 2010, more than 8000 small business matters have been referred to the VSBC, and it has maintained a dispute resolution rate of more than 80 per cent.¹⁰⁴

101 Office of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner http://www.sbc.vic.gov.au/about-the-vsbc/how-can-the-small-business-commissioner-help (accessed 7 February 2012).

102 Annual Report of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner 2010/11 at

http://www.sbc.vic.gov.au/images/stories/vsbc_AnnualReport_2010_11.pdf p 5 (accessed 7 February 2012).

103 Annual Report of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner 2010/11 p11 at

http://www.sbc.vic.gov.au/images/stories/vsbc_AnnualReport_2010_11.pdf (accessed 7 February 2012).

104 Office of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner http://www.sbc.vic.gov.au/about-the-vsbc/statistics (accessed 7 February 2012).

Concerns, Issues and Next Steps 43 VICTORIAN RETAIL TENANCY MATTERS DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Dispute resolution rate¹⁰⁵

105 Annual Report of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner 2010/11 p33 at

http://www.sbc.vic.gov.au/images/stories/vsbc_AnnualReport_2010_11.pdf (accessed 7 February 2012).

44 Case Study Information

4.15 The VSBC provides preliminary assistance and support to help disputants resolve their own disputes. The table above shows a row

“Settled prior to mediation’ that demonstrates that this preliminary assistance may play an important role in the resolution of disputes.

Preliminary assistance can include:

- initial telephone contact with parties to work out a solution;

- providing information to the parties regarding their responsibilities; and

- discussions with the parties to possibly resolve the dispute without formal mediation.¹⁰⁶

4.16 The 2011 VSBC Annual Report notes that “preliminary assistance” was identified (in KPMG’s major evaluation of the activities of the Office during the previous four years) as a:

huge, but to date largely overlooked, benefit of real value.¹⁰⁷ The VSBC also deals with telephone enquiries and

… helps callers understand their rights and obligations under retail tenancy legislation and assists in avoiding many disputes.¹⁰⁸

106 VSBC Annual Report available at

http://www.sbc.vic.gov.au/images/stories/vsbc_AnnualReport_2010_11.pdf p15 (accessed 7 February 2012).

107 Annual Report of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner 2010/11 at

http://www.sbc.vic.gov.au/images/stories/vsbc_AnnualReport_2010_11.pdf p 17 (accessed 7 February 2012).

Concerns, Issues and Next Steps 45

4.17 The VSBC has a website that sets out more information about its role and functions under the Small Business Commissioner Act 2003 (Vic) ¹⁰⁹ and a brochure “Speaking Up For Small Business”¹¹⁰ that sets out the ways in which the VSBC aims to assist small businesses. Also available are Annual Reports since the Office’s creation in 2003¹¹¹ and a Guide to Mediation with the VSBC.¹¹²

4.18 Additionally, the 2011 VSBC Annual Report includes a client

satisfaction survey across its mediation services which sets out that client satisfaction rates with the mediation/facilitation service are at 92.8 per cent. Interestingly, the parties themselves appear more satisfied than their representatives within that survey.

Overall, how satisfied are you with the mediation/facilitation services provided by the Office of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner?

Mediation Role Applicant Applicant’s

Representative Respondent Respondent’s Representative

% Satisfaction with the mediation/

facilitation service

93.3 89.8 93.0 91.9

VSBC Annual Reports show surveys of perceived time and money saved within their mediation (which as noted above includes mediation in schemes other than the Retail Tenancy

scheme).¹¹³ Clients’ views on time and money saved using the VSBC mediation service 2011

2010/11 Responses Yes No Not Sure No response

Saved time? 553 400 82 71 81

100.0% 72.3% 14.8% 12.8%

108 VSBC Annual Report p 19 at

http://www.sbc.vic.gov.au/images/stories/vsbc_AnnualReport_2010_11.pdf.

109 Office of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner (a) http://www.sbc.vic.gov.au/about-the-vsbc/how-can-the-small-business-commissioner-help (accessed 21 February 2012).

110 Office of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner (b) at

http://www.sbc.vic.gov.au/images/stories/VSBC_SpeakingUp_june11.pdf (accessed 21 February 2012).

111 Office of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner (c) at http://www.sbc.vic.gov.au/about-the-vsbc/annual-reports (accessed 21 February 2012).

112 Office of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner (d) http://www.sbc.vic.gov.au/about-the-vsbc/guide-to-mediation (accessed 21 February 2012).

113 Annual Report of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner 2010/11 at

http://www.sbc.vic.gov.au/images/stories/vsbc_AnnualReport_2010_11.pdf p 31 (accessed 7 February 2012).

46 Case Study Information

2010/11 Responses Yes No Not Sure No response

Saved money?

537 346 90 101 97

100.0% 64.4% 16.8% 18.8%

4.19 The retail tenancy dispute resolution schemes in NSW and Victoria have operated and evolved over a period of years to include both schemes of preliminary assistance to prospective litigants and formal mediation as part of a pre-action obligation. Reports about the schemes operations and activity indicate high levels of client satisfaction and time- and cost-saving impacts. However, a critical question in this research is whether the schemes prompted early resolution and whether or not resolution would have taken place in any event.