Victoria's Minister for Consumer Affairs, Marsha Thomson, has introduced legislation into Parliament to help level the playing field between small business and big business.
She claims the changes will result in less legal red tape and costs for Victoria's small business.
Thomson is seeking to insert into the state Fair Trading Act clauses from the federal Trade Practices Act that prohibit unconscionable conduct in business transactions worth $3 million or less.
Unconscionable conduct occurs when big business takes advantage of its size to damage the competitiveness or profitability, and possibly the survival, of a small business.
"This change will mean small business owners in Victoria, including retail tenants, could take their grievances to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal rather than the federal or state courts where these cases were previously heard," she says.
"This is a much better option. It has less formal procedures, far cheaper application fees and legal costs, and a strong emphasis on mediation.
"The government made an election commitment to the small business community to provide a safety net against the sometimes predatory trading practices which can be employed by big business. Now we are delivering as part of our charter to act decently and responsibly.
"The Bracks government has been pushing for this protection for small business for two years, but has been held back by a tardy federal government, who delayed introducing amendments to the Trade Practices Act which would have enabled the states to utilise this provision.
"Changes have just been made that allow state versions of the sections relevant to unconscionable conduct to operate concurrently with the federal legislation."
Importantly, Thomson points out that the changes to the Fair Trading Act will go further than the provisions of the Trade Practices Act so that they now apply fully to unincorporated traders as well as incorporated traders.
"It is also, therefore, open to a wider range of businesses than those covered by the federal legislation," she says.