Slashing Business Licence Requirements
The Tasmanian Government is set to strip back licensing requirements for small businesses as part of its sweeping assault on red tape.
The Business Council of Australia named Tasmania as the second-best place in the country to do business, but there was one area that needed big improvements: the number of licences required to do business.
It takes 37 licences to open a café and 26 licences to open a retail shop.
Minister for Hospitality and Small Business, Jane Howlett, said 97 per cent of Tasmanian businesses are small businesses.
“Our businesses and entrepreneurs are the engine room of our economy, and we want to create the very best business conditions by stripping back the regulatory burden,” Minister Howlett said.
“Of course, businesses need to operate safely, respect the community and protect the environment, but we will remove the unnecessary blockages in the licensing requirements for small businesses.
“We want to take the shackles off, and say yes to new opportunities.
“It takes a lot of time and bureaucratic people power to administer up to 37 licences to every business, and that’s time much better spent helping Tasmanian entrepreneurs to forge their path, safely and properly.
“Over the coming months we’ll be taking a good hard look at what needs to be there, and what doesn’t, and we will strip back licensing requirements.
“We have been, and continue to engage with business, industry and Tasmanians about what they need, and what handbrakes need removing.
“Small enterprise is the core of who we are, and by cutting the red tape, the licensing requirements, we are letting every Tasmanian and others who belong here know that they can do it here.
“As outlined in our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future, our Government wants to see businesses growing and thriving and to provide meaningful opportunities for our young people.
“We will work with a regulators to ensure they can protect, but also help us build our business sector.
“Working together we can foster more opportunity for high-value, growing, and profitable enterprises that enrich families, communities and the State.”
https://www.premier.tas.gov.au/latest-news/2025/march/slashing-business-licence-requirements