Dial up digital with the Victorian Governments new Small Business Digital Adaptation Program

Dial up digital with the Victorian Government’s new Small Business Digital Adaptation Program


3 min read
By Jo Stanlake
Director of Brand, Sales & Marketing | BlueRock
To continue to support businesses over the coming months, the Victorian Government has launched the Small Business Digital Adaptation Program. It's a $20m initiative to help eligible businesses to access digital products, tools and training they can use to build digital capability in their day-to-day operations. Apply now!

When it comes to software and systems, would you say your business is well set-up for the future or have you been putting off the investment? Perhaps there’s a new digital marketing product you’d like to try, or some key operational issues in your business you’re keen to resolve? Now might be your chance.

As more and more businesses take their services and operations online as a result of COVID-19, the need for an effective and engaging digital platform has never been greater. And the Victorian Government wants to make sure sole traders, micro businesses and small businesses are able to adapt to a digital-led operating environment.

This week the government announced a $20 million initiative to help Victorian businesses from all industry sectors to trial new products, upgrade existing products, and access free training and workshops. This is great news for many small businesses!

What is the Small Business Digital Adaptation Program?

The Small Business Digital Adaptation Program was established to allow eligible businesses to trial and then receive access to digital products, tools and training. Registered businesses will be able to trial selected digital products from suppliers who have partnered with the Victorian Government, then choose one of these products to purchase.

Once you have purchased a product, you can apply for a rebate of up to $1,200 to access the product for 12 months. Consider what products you currently use or are thinking about implementing when it comes to:

  • Building a new website
  • Building a new eCommerce store
  • Implementing new systems
  • Advertising your products and services with digital marketing
  • Increasing your team's digital capability and confidence

The program also offers free digital adaptation training and workshops to help registered businesses adopt and implement online tools in their business.

The Small Business Digital Adaptation Program will run from 6 November 2020 to 30 June 2021. Registrations for digital product trials and workshops will be open from 6 November 2020 to 28 February 2021.

What digital products can you access as part of the program?

Whether you operate in hospitality and need a new contactless, point-of-sale system or you’re in retail and launching a new eCommerce website, there are a number of trusted and scalable digital products that can help as part of this partner program.

These include Mr Yum, Square, Shopify, Squarespace, MYOB and Xero.

How do I apply for the Small Business Digital Adaptation Program?

To qualify for the Small Business Digital Adaptation Program, your business needs to:

  • Participate in the Commonwealth JobKeeper scheme
  • Employ people and be registered with WorkSafe
  • Have had a payroll less than $10 million in 2019-20
  • Be registered for GST and have an ABN
  • Be registered with the responsible federal or state regulator.

If you tick those boxes, participating businesses will progress through these three key steps:

  1. Register for the program to participate in product trials and workshops
  2. Sign up for their preferred digital product available under this program
  3. Apply for a purchase rebate of $1,200 to cover 12 months’ free access.

Spaces for the Small Business Digital Adaptation Program are limited, so make sure you register today .

And if you’re looking for advice on the best digital tools for your business or support to implement them with confidence, feel free to reach out to our BlueRock Digital team for a free consultation.

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