Glossary

Australian small business glossary

Plain-English definitions of the 27 acronyms and statutes you'll meet running a business in Australia — tax, payroll, allied health, broking, and electrical/solar compliance. Every definition links out to the authoritative source — ATO, AHPRA, ASIC, Fair Work, ACMA, Standards Australia, CEC, Clean Energy Regulator — so you can verify directly.

Tax & ATO

GSTGoods and Services Tax: Australia's broad-based 10% consumption tax, applied to most goods, services, and imports. To add GST: multiply by 1.1; to extract GST from a GST-inclusive total: divide by 11. GST registration is mandatory once turnover reaches $75,000 in any rolling 12-month period ($150,000 for non-profits, or from day one for taxi/rideshare drivers). Most basic foods, exports, and certain education and healthcare services are GST-free.
ABNAustralian Business Number: An 11-digit identifier issued by the Australian Business Register (ABR) at no cost. Required for any business issuing tax invoices in Australia. Sole traders, companies, partnerships, and trusts each apply with their own TFN. Without an ABN on an invoice, the buyer must withhold 47% of the payment and remit it to the ATO (no-ABN withholding).
TFNTax File Number: A 9-digit personal tax identifier issued by the ATO. Required to lodge a tax return, work as an employee (via TFN declaration), claim government benefits, or open most bank accounts. Sole traders use their personal TFN for the business; companies, partnerships, and trusts get a separate TFN for the entity.
BASBusiness Activity Statement: The ATO form Australian businesses lodge to report GST collected on sales, GST credits claimed on purchases, PAYG withholding from employee wages, PAYG instalments toward income tax, and (where applicable) Fringe Benefits Tax. Quarterly BAS is due 28 days after the end of each quarter; lodging via a registered tax agent or BAS agent extends the due date by approximately four weeks.
PAYGPay As You Go: Two separate systems: PAYG withholding (employer withholds income tax from wages each pay run, remits to ATO via STP) and PAYG instalments (business or sole trader pre-pays income tax in quarterly instalments based on prior-year income). Both report on the same BAS.
Super GuaranteeSG: The minimum superannuation contribution Australian employers must pay on behalf of employees, calculated as a percentage of ordinary times earnings. The rate stepped up 0.5% per year from 9.5% to reach 12% on 1 July 2025. Quarterly contributions are due 28 days after the end of each quarter. Late contributions trigger the Super Guarantee Charge — non-deductible interest, admin fee, and component differences.
SuperStream: The mandatory standard for sending superannuation contribution data and payment electronically. Employers must send contribution data and payment together in the SuperStream-compliant format using a clearing house (the ATO offers one free for businesses with under 20 employees) or SBR-enabled payroll software.
STPSingle Touch Payroll: The ATO's mandatory real-time payroll reporting system. Each pay run sends payment, withholding, and super contribution data to the ATO at the time of the payroll, replacing the previous annual payment summary process. STP Phase 2 (mandatory since 1 January 2022) expanded the data set to include itemised allowances, country codes for visa workers, and disaggregation of gross.
EOFYEnd of Financial Year: 30 June each year in Australia. Triggers a sequence of tax-and-payroll obligations: stocktake at 30 June for businesses carrying trading stock; STP finalisation declaration by 14 July; quarterly super for the June quarter due 28 July; income tax return lodgement by 31 October (later if using a tax agent).
DSPDigital Service Provider: ATO term for software vendors approved to interact with ATO systems via Standard Business Reporting (SBR). DSPs are listed in the ATO's Software Service Provider Register and meet specific operational and security requirements (whitelist, OSF — Operational Security Framework).
SBRStandard Business Reporting: The framework Australian businesses use to lodge reports (BAS, tax returns, super, payroll) electronically with government agencies via approved software. SBR-enabled software interacts with the ATO Practitioner Lodgement Service (PLS) for tax-agent lodgement.
TPBTax Practitioners Board: The independent statutory body that registers and regulates Australian tax agents, BAS agents, and tax (financial) advisers. Registration is mandatory before charging a fee for any tax-agent services. CPD hours, professional indemnity insurance, and the TPB Code of Professional Conduct are ongoing obligations.

Health & care

AHPRAAustralian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency: The national regulator for registered health practitioners across 16 professions including medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, dentistry, psychology, pharmacy, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice. Practitioners must hold current AHPRA registration to practise; the Code of conduct, advertising rules, and continuing professional development requirements are board-set.
HICAPS: Health Industry Claims and Payments Service — the network used by Australian allied-health providers (physio, chiro, dental, optical, etc.) to process private-health-fund extras-cover claims at point of service. Patient pays only the gap; the fund settles the claimed portion directly with the provider.
NDISNational Disability Insurance Scheme: Australia's national scheme providing funding for supports for people with permanent and significant disability. Registered providers must meet the NDIS Practice Standards and submit to NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission audit. Participants have plans funding categories such as core supports, capacity building, and capital.
HCPHome Care Package: An Australian Government-subsidised package providing aged-care services to support older Australians to live independently at home. Levels 1 (basic) through 4 (high-level care) determine annual funding. Providers must hold approval from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQS Commission) and meet the Aged Care Quality Standards.
SCHADS AwardSocial, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010: The modern award that covers most Australian aged-care, disability, community services, and home-care employees. Sets minimum pay rates by classification, hour-by-hour overtime and shift loading rules, broken-shift allowances, sleepover rates, and travel-time entitlements that are particularly load-bearing for community-based home-care workers.

Finance & broking

BIDBest Interests Duty: A statutory duty placed on Australian mortgage brokers since 1 January 2021 by the National Consumer Credit Protection Act. Brokers must act in the best interests of borrowers and prioritise borrower interests over their own. ASIC's Regulatory Guide 273 (RG 273) sets out expectations: the recommended product must genuinely meet the borrower's needs, the broker must consider a reasonable range of products, and the reasoning must be recorded.
NCCP ActNational Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009: Commonwealth legislation that regulates consumer credit and the activities of mortgage brokers and other credit providers in Australia. Establishes the Australian Credit Licence (ACL), the Best Interests Duty (BID, since 2021), and ASIC's enforcement role in consumer credit conduct.
RG 273ASIC Regulatory Guide 273: ASIC's regulatory guide setting out how mortgage brokers should comply with the Best Interests Duty (BID) under the NCCP Act 2009. Specifies the expected reasoning, product comparison, and record-keeping a broker must perform when recommending a credit product.

Marketing

Spam Act 2003: Commonwealth legislation regulating the sending of commercial electronic messages (email, SMS, instant messaging) to Australian recipients. Requires explicit, inferred, or implied consent; sender identification on every message; and a functional unsubscribe method that processes within 5 business days. Enforced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA); penalties for businesses can reach $2.22 million per day for repeated breaches.

Trades & compliance

AS/NZS 3000Wiring Rules: The joint Australian/New Zealand Standard for electrical installations — the legally referenced 'Wiring Rules' that every licensed electrician must work to. Covers selection, installation, inspection, and testing of low-voltage (≤1000 V AC, ≤1500 V DC) electrical installations. Cited by state regulators (ESV in VIC, Fair Trading NSW, ESO QLD, OTR SA, Building & Energy WA, CBOS TAS, Access Canberra ACT, NT WorkSafe) as the technical basis for Certificates of Electrical Compliance.
AS/NZS 3760In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment: The joint Australian/New Zealand Standard that defines test-and-tag intervals, visual inspection procedures, and electrical safety tests (insulation resistance, earth continuity, polarity) for portable electrical equipment in the workplace. Required by WHS regulators for hostile environments (construction, manufacturing, hire) and by many commercial leases as a building-management condition.
CoCCertificate of Electrical Compliance: The certificate a licensed electrician must issue (and lodge with the state regulator in most states) when prescribed electrical work is completed. Names vary by jurisdiction — CES (VIC), CCEW (NSW), Form 14 (QLD), eCoC (SA, WA), Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work (TAS, ACT, NT) — but all serve the same function: a sign-off that the work meets AS/NZS 3000 and the relevant state Electricity Safety Act/regulations.
CECClean Energy Council: The peak body for Australia's clean-energy industry. Administers the accreditation scheme for solar PV, battery storage, and grid-connected hybrid system designers and installers. CEC accreditation is mandatory for an installer to create Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs) on the REC Registry, and for participation in most state rebates (VIC SVS, NSW PDRS, SA HEER).
STCSmall-scale Technology Certificate: A tradeable certificate created under the Australian Government's Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) when an eligible small-scale renewable system (solar PV ≤100 kW, solar water heater, heat pump HWS) is installed. One STC equals one MWh of expected generation/displacement. STCs are sold via the open market or the Clearing House (fixed $40 less fees). Created on the Clean Energy Regulator's REC Registry by a CEC-accredited installer (PV) or registered agent.
DNSPDistribution Network Service Provider: The regulated distribution-network operator responsible for the poles, wires, and meters in a given Australian region. Solar PV and battery grid-connections require a DNSP pre-approval (form varies by network: AusNet, Powercor, CitiPower, United Energy, Jemena in VIC; Ausgrid, Endeavour, Essential in NSW; Energex, Ergon in QLD; SAPN in SA; Western Power in WA; TasNetworks in TAS; Evoenergy in ACT; Power and Water in NT). Export-limit, inverter standards (AS/NZS 4777.2), and connection capacity rules are DNSP-set.

Last reviewed and updated: May 2026 by Bishal Shrestha

Australian small business glossary

Tax & ATO

GSTGoods and Services Tax

Australia's broad-based 10% consumption tax, applied to most goods, services, and imports. To add GST: multiply by 1.1; to extract GST from a GST-inclusive total: divide by 11. GST registration is mandatory once turnover reaches $75,000 in any rolling 12-month period ($150,000 for non-profits, or from day one for taxi/rideshare drivers). Most basic foods, exports, and certain education and healthcare services are GST-free.