Australian Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Summary of views
General comments
•	Thought that the three functions and powers outlined under the exposure draft legislation were appropriate.
•	Referred to the Chamber’s comments from the last consultation (April 2014) that the Ombudsman should work with bilateral chambers and organisations representing multicultural business groups, to ensure that it recognises the “large quantity of non-English speaking businesses in Australia”. Noted that these could make up a large number of the cases brought to the Ombudsman.
–	Treasury explained that the bilateral chambers have been engaged as part of this consultation process.
•	Recommendation: consider explicit provisions for engaging with non-English speaking businesses.
Title
•	Expressed concern at the outdated nature of the term ‘Ombudsman’ given twenty-first century understanding of gender Equality.
•	Recommendation: exclude ‘man’ from the title ‘Ombudsman’ to make it more gender neutral.
Definition of small business
•	Noted broader work to change the terminology around ‘small’ businesses, given that it does not accurately reflect the effort put in by business-owners and the proportion of the economy that they represent, but acknowledged that this is not under the purview of this consultation.