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Self-Employment Assistance Data

Definition

A set of indicators that describe the Self-Employment Assistance Data publication. The publication provides data on participant referrals to Self-Employment Assistance (SEA), participant engagement with SEA services (and service completion rates, where applicable), participant commencements in and exits from the Small Business Coaching service, and a breakdown of which industries the small businesses being assisted as part of Small Business Coaching belong to.

SEA is an employment service program that supports participants (clients) to develop, start and/or run a small business. SEA offers six free services that participants can select one or more from that form the core of the program:

  1. Exploring Self-Employment Workshops provide information about self-employment and help participants to generate and test business ideas. These workshops usually involve 5 sessions delivered over one or two weeks. The workshops help participants to make informed decisions about whether they want to pursue self-employment.
  2. Small Business Training provides participants with the skills needed to start and run a small business over 8 weeks. Participants can access accredited training and choose to do a shorter skillset or an approved longer Certificate III or IV related to entrepreneurship and new business.
  3. Business Plan Development can help participants prepare a viable business plan to help their business succeed by providing one-on-one support from a SEA provider and the tools needed to complete one. A comprehensive business plan helps to identify strategies for success and forecast the business' cash flow for 2 years into the future. Self-Employment Assistance providers can then assess the business plan and provide independent feedback on the likely viability of the business. The business must be assessed as viable in order for the business (and participant) to be eligible for Small Business Coaching. 
  4. Business Advice Sessions are one-hour, one-on-one sessions with a business advisor, giving advice on starting a small business or running an existing one.

    They can involve getting advice on starting a business, improving the business’ commercial viability, advice on a range of other small business-related matters, or referral to other small business support networks. Each session is delivered over the course of an hour and participants can access up to two sessions per year.

  5. Business Health Checks help business owners assess how their existing business is running to find ways to improve its viability. A Business Health Check is delivered over 3 hours in a one-on-one session. Participants can access one Business Health Check per year.
  6. Small Business Coaching provides business mentoring for up to 12 months. Over the course of a year, participants are connected to a business mentor who will give guidance, coaching, and other business support. Participants can also receive a $300 reimbursement to assist with their eligible business costs (such as business insurance). If eligible, participants can also receive a Self-Employment Allowance for up to 39 weeks and Self-Employment Rental Assistance for up to 26 weeks.

Participants can access SEA services while still being enrolled in the Workforce Australia Provider Services, Workforce Australia Online Services or Transition to Work employment service programs (if above the age of 18). Participants can contribute to their points target or fully meet their Mutual Obligations Requirements through accessing certain SEA services:

  • Participants will receive points towards their points target (but not fully meet their Mutual Obligations Requirements) for accessing the following services:
    • Exploring Self-Employment Workshops
    • Business Advice Sessions
    • Business Health Check
  • Participants will fully meet their Mutual Obligations Requirements by accessing the following services:
    • Small Business Training (up to 8 weeks per certification),
    • Business Plan Development (once per completed business plan) 
    • Small Business Coaching (up to 52 weeks). 

Self-Employment Assistance replaced the New Business Assistance with NEIS program in July 2022.

Indicators:

Label Indicator Outcome Areas
Table 1: Services (other than Business Plans) Number of instances of Self-Employment Assistance access by service type, financial year and state
Table 1: Approved Business Plans Number of approved business plans by financial year and state
Table 2 Number of Self-Employment Assistance current referrals by cohort, state, allowance group, direct registration status, and access to SEA allowance
Table 3: Total Referrals Number of Self-Employment Assistance referrals by cohort and financial year
Table 3: Current Referrals Number of Self-Employment Assistance current referrals by cohort and financial year
Table 3: Approved Business Plans Number of approved business plans by cohort and financial year
Table 3: Services (other than Business Plans) Number of instances of Self-Employment Assistance access by service type, cohort and financial year
Table 3: Completion Rate Participant Self-Employment Assistance service completion rate by service type, cohort and financial year
Table 4 Number of exits from Small Business Coaching by financial year and exit reason
Table 5 Number of exits from Self-Employment Assistance services other than Small Business Coaching by financial year and exit reason
Table 6: Small Business Coaching (SBC) Commencements Number of Small Business Coaching commencements by business industry division and subdivision
Table 6: Received SEA Allowance Number of Small Business Coaching commencements with participant receiving Self-Employment Assistance allowance by business industry division and subdivision
Table 6: Micro Business Number of Small Business Coaching commencements with pre-existing microbusiness by industry division and subdivision
Table 6: Potential Partnerships Number of Small Business Coaching commencements with a potential partnership by industry division and subdivision

Comments

Caveats:

Confidentiality: In order to protect individuals' privacy, all cells within the table have been rounded to the nearest 5. This may result in non-additivity for some totals. Zero cells are actual zeros.
Referral Count: Counts are the number of unique clients (based on jobseeker ID) on the Self-Employment Assistance caseload. This includes per Service Use, noting that one client may engage with multiple services.
Cohorts: Cohorts are the characteristics grouping(s) that a client belongs to, such as their age group and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) status. Cohorts are not mutually exclusive; an individual may belong to multiple cohorts. Note that cohort information may be unavailable, in whole or in part, for some clients where the client directly registered with a Self-Employment Assistance Program provider.
State:
  • Participant Referrals are based on the client's address
  • Service accesses are based on employment services provider address

Client data is drawn from a number of sources, mainly Services Australia Registration data and the Job Seeker Snapshot (JSS) response relating to their most recent registration with Employment Services. Age and registration period are updated automatically, while other details may be updated when an individual’s circumstances change. However, some information for some individuals may no longer be current, especially if they have not updated their JSS recently.

For clients who are on the caseload, data is accurate as at the reference date for the data extract provided. Items that rely on self-disclosure may be underestimated.

Origin

Self-Employment Assistance Data - Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Australian Government (dewr.gov.au)

Related content

Relation Count
Outcome areas for Indicators in this Indicator Set 0