David Eaton has been appointed Western Australia’s first Small Business Commissioner to provide a low-cost alternative dispute resolution service.
Small business minister Simon O’Brien made the announcement today, saying this was a landmark occasion for small business in WA.
“One of the main functions of the commissioner, under the amended Small Business Development Corporation Act, will be to receive and investigate complaints about unfair market practices affecting small business, and to provide help to resolve those complaints,” Mr O’Brien said.
“The commissioner will head up the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) and increase its service provisions to include a low-cost, non-litigious alternative dispute resolution service for small business operators.
“Currently when faced with a commercial dispute the first resort is the courts; the state government is confident the small business community will embrace a low cost alternative.
Mr Eaton has considerable experience of small business, spending seven years as a small business owner before moving to Australia Post where he became national commercial services manager.
The new commissioner said he acknowledged the small business sector faced unique challenges, but he was confident the SBDC would continue to help small businesses take advantage of the opportunities available in WA.
Mr Eaton will commence work on January 17.
