What will the rural, remote and regional communities look like without an essential service? The continuing closure of bank branches across Western Australia’s Wheatbelt represents an enormous lost opportunity for the Australian banking and financial services industry. ANZ will soon close its Beverley and Wongan Hills branches, while NAB has already closed its Three Springs, […]

A cross regional collaboration between the Wheatbelt Business Network, Ravensthorpe Community Resource Centre and Hopetoun Community Resource Centre has delivered a new business network to the Fitzgerald region. “With the emergence of the Fitzgerald Biosphere as a region in its own right, it had become apparent to the participating CRCs that there was a big […]

We attended  a workshop with John Willett from Jolin Consulting early last year – THE best decision we have ever made for the future of managing our staff.  Interestingly enough, the 3 of us had the same personality traits which made for a “lively” afternoon. John was informative, and gave us quite a few tips […]

16th November 2021 Summary Overview In late October the WA State Government introduced mandatory vaccines for certain industries and businesses with a staged approach. We understand that the intent of the mandate is to increase WA’s total vaccination rate as we all work towards being able to open up the State. Broadly, regional businesses support […]

22nd November 2021 Honourable Mark McGowan MLA Premier; Treasurer; Minister for Public Sector Management; Federal-State Relations 13th Floor, Dumas House 2 Havelock Street WEST PERTH WA 6005 Dear Premier Re: The Electoral Equality Bill 2021 – Regional Representation Concerns On behalf of the members of the Regional Chambers of Commerce and Industry of WA (RCCIWA) […]

Fourth Women in Business Event a Success Led by the Wheatbelt Business Network, businesswomen from across the Wheatbelt descended on Beverley to attend the fourth WE Shine event on Friday the 15th October. The purpose of the day was to provide a professional development opportunity for female business owners and senior decision makers. WBN member […]

The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), position was created under legislation in 2015 and launched on 11 March 2016 with two key functions: to assist and to advocate for small businesses and family enterprises. The Hon Bruce Billson, is the 2nd ASBFEO and says “I’m an independent advocate for small business owners. […]

What do you see when someone asks you to picture regional Western Australia? Whatever you think of, you might be surprised to learn that while only 29% of Australia’s population lives in rural Australia as recorded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 Census1,non-metropolitan Australia actually contributes 40 percent of Australia’s national economic output and […]

MEDIA RELEASE Wheatbelt Businesses Develop Jobs Position Paper Western Australia’s Wheatbelt is busy, with rural businesses busy trying to meet demand for their goods and services. The work Wheatbelt businesses have put into innovating, diversifying and positioning themselves for growth has positioned them well in the local, state, national and international markets. “Whilst Wheatbelt businesses […]