The NSW Government has invested $500,000 in three programs designed to empower women to start and run successful small businesses through the Women in Business Networks (WIBN) grant.

Despite the prevalence of small businesses in New South Wales, only one-third of these businesses are owned by women. The WIBN grant is one initiative responding to the NSW Government’s commitment to support women in small business and entrepreneurs, as outlined in the 2022-23 Women’s Opportunity Statement.

The programs will help connect women in small business or those who are looking to start a small business with the right resources and support. They will include training, workshops, networking, peer support and industry mentoring.

The WIBN grant is administered by Women NSW and is a NSW Government commitment to allocate $2 million over four years to support women in small business.

Minister for Women Jodie Harrison said the Women in Business Networks program is another example of how the NSW Government is committed to supporting women with small businesses.

"It will help women successfully access, navigate, and leverage formal networks for the purposes of business growth or provide them with access to finance, leading to increased turnover, profit, or employment,” Ms Harrison said. 

The three programs include:

• ‘Work of Art’, run by Regional Arts NSW. The program responds to the challenges that many women face in trying to establish their creative businesses in regional areas. The project addresses challenges, including a sense of isolation, accessing professional development opportunities, understanding and developing a market and experiencing both the advantages and disadvantages of distance and geography.
• ‘Empowering Women in Farming Businesses’ by the NSW Farmers Association, which will host up to ten events across regional NSW to provide support to regional, rural and remote women with businesses. The program recognises the valuable contribution of females to the agriculture sector and aims to provide focused networking and skill development opportunities to further develop their confidence and support systems.
• ‘Yinaar Ngaambi-li’ created by the NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce, is a bespoke accelerator for Aboriginal women entrepreneurs and business owners. The project aims to develop their business capacity through a fit for purpose, culturally considered Business Accelerator Program that enables their sustained connection to business support and professional women role models, mentors and networks.

Deb Barwick, CEO of the NSW Indigneous Chamber of Commerce, said only one third of businesses within NSW are owned by women, and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, this number is significantly lower again, which is why support for networks, and mentors, are just as important as educational programs.

“The grant will assist in creating a legacy of inspirational Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women entrepreneurs, who will have the mentors, tools and resilience to take on any business challenge and in turn will become mentors themselves to the generations to come,” Ms Barwick said. 

Dr Tracey Callinan OAM, CEO of Regional Arts NSW, said the grant enables women to access a mix of online and in-person activities.

"By ensuring that women are given practical support to attend sessions and to travel to the face-to-face sessions, ’Work of Art’ will embed practices and relationships that we believe will support them long beyond the life of the program," Ms Callinan said. 

Rebecca Reardon, Vice President of the NSW Farmer’s Association, said women perform a critical function in many farm businesses and developing their skills would unlock greater opportunities.

“Women traditionally perform administrative-type activities but we’re seeing more and more women looking for entrepreneurial ways to market and sell their farm’s products,” she said. 

For more information on this grant, please visit nsw.gov.au/grants-and-funding/wibn.