Small businesses play a significant role in the Australian economy, yet an increasing number of them
are home based and relatively small operations. These home based businesses(HBBs) actually
account for some 67% of the small business sector in Australia. Due to their large number, they are a
politically and economically important grouping, thus attracting policy attention from various
government levels. Previous studies of home based businesses reveal that HBBs do face significant
problems and could benefit from government support. Local government is the obvious first contact
point with HBBs. However HBBs contacting local government is not common, as these businesses
prefer to remain anonymous as much as possible. These firms are often wary of government contact
due to a belief that it will lead to some restraint on the business. And because these HBBs are not
readily identifiable, it is a difficult task for local government to engage with them.
This paper reports on a study of the role local governments play in facilitating and supporting the
home based businesses in the State of Victoria, Australia. It involved telephone interviews with
representatives of all of the local government jurisdictions in the State together with a survey of their
websites. In-depth interviews were subsequently undertaken with 20 selected councils running local
government. This study reports on the various forms of assistance provided to home based
businesses. The findings indicate that the levels of assistance provided are related to the perceived
level of need for employment-generating business activity in the local municipality. The paper
analyses the various forms of assistance and identifies specific forms of assistance that are more
likely to be associated with supporting the development and employment generating capacity of home
based businesses.