Starting a business in Australia? Where to get expert, useful information for every part of entrepreneurial success

Starting a business is one part inspiration, one part paperwork, and three parts “I didn’t know I needed to know that.” The good news: you don’t have to guess. Australia has a surprisingly strong ecosystem of credible, practical guidance—if you know where to look, and in what order.

Below is a founder-friendly map of where to get expert information on strategy, validation, legal setup, tax, hiring, funding, marketing, operations, and growth—with a bias toward sources that are accurate, current, and usable (not fluffy motivational content).

1) Start with the only “master hub” that links everything together

If you’re building in Australia, your first browser tab should be:

business.gov.au – This is the central government portal that ties together registrations, planning, grants/programs finders, and step-by-step guides. It’s not trying to sell you anything, and it’s designed to help you avoid common compliance mistakes.

How to use it like an operator (not a tourist):

Read the Starting a business guide once, front-to-back.
Use it as your “index” to specialist regulators (ASIC, ATO, Fair Work, state licensing bodies).
Use the Grants and programs finder to understand what exists—but don’t assume “grants to start a business” are common (they’re usually for growth, hiring, R&D, exports, regional development).

2) For business setup, registration, and “what structure should I choose?”

The corporate/refistration “source of truth”

ASIC – Essential if you’re registering a company or business name, and for understanding the ongoing obligations that come with a company structure.

Use ASIC for:

Whether you need to register a business name (if you’re not trading under your own personal name).
How business name registration works in practice (process, requirements).
What it means to register a company, and what obligations directors/officeholders take on.

The “ABN + tax registrations” piece

Australian Business Register – Core reference for applying for GST/PAYG registrations alongside ABN workflows (and warnings about incorrect registrations).

Founder reality check: if you’re unsure about structure (sole trader vs company vs trust), this is one of the first points where it’s worth paying for a good accountant’s advice—because changing structures later can create real tax/compliance friction.

3) For tax, GST, reporting, and “what do I actually have to lodge?”

If your business lives longer than a month, you’ll meet the ATO. Get ahead of it.

Australian Taxation Office – Use their “starting a business” and “business structures / key obligations” guidance as your baseline, especially around GST thresholds and structure-dependent obligations.

Use the ATO guidance to build your tax operating system:

What you need to register for (GST, PAYG withholding, etc.).
How obligations differ by structure (sole trader vs company etc.).
Whether you’re approaching GST registration thresholds and how turnover is treated (especially important if you scale fast or run online sales).

Practical pro tip: hire an accountant for a systems setup, not just “annual tax.” Ask them to set up:

chart of accounts
GST approach (cash/accrual)
bookkeeping rhythm
payroll + super workflow if hiring
a dashboard for monthly numbers (revenue, gross margin, CAC, burn)

4) For hiring, pay rates, awards, and not getting blindsided by employment rules

Hiring is where many small businesses accidentally step on a landmine—not out of malice, but out of complexity.

Fair Work Ombudsman – The definitive reference for minimum wages, awards, and employer obligations, plus practical tools for small business hiring.

Use Fair Work for:

The National Minimum Wage baseline (and the fact that many employees are award-covered).
Finding the right award and understanding minimum conditions.
Hiring basics (full-time/part-time/casual differences, award coverage).
Staying compliant and fixing mistakes fast if you underpay (their guidance is explicit and practical).

A 2026-specific compliance watch-out: Fair Work notes “Payday Super” changes are scheduled to start 1 July 2026 (super paid at the same time as wages). If you plan to hire in 2026, build payroll processes with that in mind.

5) For licences, permits, and “what approvals do I need to operate?”

This is where founders waste weeks—because rules differ by industry and location.

Start with:

business.gov.au registrations / licences & permits guidance and jump from there into state/territory and local council requirements relevant to your activity.

The right approach:

Identify your activities (e.g., food handling, building works, childcare, transport, health services, online finance-related products).
Identify where you operate (state + local council).
Build a compliance checklist before you sign a lease, launch ads, or hire staff.

6) For funding and grants (without getting sucked into hype)

There are three “credibility tiers” for funding information:

Tier 1: Government programs and support directories

business.gov.au’s grants and programs finder.

Tier 2: Professionals who will ask hard questions

a good accountant (cashflow, pricing, margins, tax)
a commercial lawyer (terms, liability, IP, shareholder agreements)
an insurance broker (risk mapping, not just “a policy”)

Tier 3: Communities and accelerators (useful, but variable quality)

incubators, coworking spaces, pitch nights, founder groups
These can be excellent—just remember they’re not regulators. Cross-check anything compliance-related with ASIC/ATO/Fair Work.

7) For business model, pricing, and “is this idea actually viable?”

This is the part many founders skip, then pay for later.

Best “experts” here aren’t influencers—they’re customers and numbers. Your information stack should include:

Customer interviews and pre-sales data (your own evidence)
Competitor teardown and positioning analysis (your own work)
A bookkeeper/accountant validating your unit economics (expert lens)

High-value tools & frameworks to look for (wherever you learn):

Unit economics (gross margin, contribution margin, payback period)
A simple break-even model
Offer design (what you sell, to who, for what outcome)
Distribution strategy (how you’ll reliably acquire customers)

If you run an online marketing service (which you do), you already have an edge: you understand distribution. Use that edge early—most businesses fail from lack of demand, not lack of effort.

8) For marketing and growth that isn’t guesswork

Here’s where many “expert sources” become noisy. To keep it useful, filter marketing advice into two buckets:

Bucket A: Evidence-based channels (trackable)

search, local SEO, paid search/social, email/SMS, partnerships, referral programs
Your “expert info” comes from:
platform documentation (Google, Meta, etc.)
your analytics and experiments
case studies from credible operators (not vanity screenshots)

Bucket B: Brand, PR, and trust (harder to measure, still essential)

Your best information sources here are:

journalists and editors who understand your market
founders who’ve built trusted brands in your category
your own audience feedback loops

Given thetimes.com.au context, you can also treat content as both asset + acquisition channel: publish founder guides, local business stories, and “how-to” explainers that attract the same people who later buy services, listings, sponsorships, or products.

9) The “expert map” by topic (save this)

Use this as a quick routing table:

Starting steps, planning, registrations, support: business.gov.au
Business name & company registration: ASIC
ABN + related registrations workflow warnings: Australian Business Register
Tax obligations & structure differences: Australian Taxation Office
Hiring, awards, minimum wages, compliance: Fair Work Ombudsman
Grants/programs discovery: business.gov.au finder

10) How to tell if an “expert” source is actually worth your time

Use this five-point filter:

Do they specify jurisdiction? (Australia-specific vs generic US advice)
Do they show working? (numbers, examples, checklists)
Do they disclose incentives? (selling a course, pushing a product)
Do they cite regulators or primary sources? (ASIC/ATO/Fair Work, legislation, official guidance)
Can you implement something today? (templates, workflows, step-by-step)

If it fails 3 out of 5, treat it as entertainment, not guidance.

11) A practical “first 30 days” learning plan for new founders

If you want a structured way to learn without drowning:

Week 1: Validate

define customer + problem + offer
do 15 customer conversations
attempt pre-sales or paid pilots
draft simple financial model (price, costs, break-even)

Week 2: Set up legally

choose structure (get accountant input)
ABN / business name / company steps as relevant (ASIC/ABR)

Week 3: Tax and bookkeeping

set up bookkeeping
confirm GST/PAYG needs with ATO guidance

Week 4: Go-to-market

pick 1–2 acquisition channels
build landing page + tracking
publish first “authority” content or launch first campaign
set weekly review cadence (leads, sales, cash)

Closing thought: the “expert stack” that wins

Entrepreneurs win when they combine:

Regulators for truth (ASIC/ATO/Fair Work)
Professionals for risk + setup (accountant, lawyer, insurance)
Customers for reality (validation)
Systems for repeatability (process, metrics, cadence)