{"id":"C2015A00124","name":"Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2015","slug":"australian-small-business-and-family-enterprise-ombudsman-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"124 of 2015","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436274,"registerId":"C2015A00124-fast-fetch-1775953516918","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2015","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAustralian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2015\n\n \n\nNo. 124, 2015\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to amend laws, and deal with transitional matters, in connection with the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Act 2015, and for related purposes\n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Short title\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Schedules\n\nSchedule 1—Consequential amendments\n\nOmbudsman Act 1976\n\nSchedule 2—Transitional provisions\n\n \n\n \n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nAustralian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2015\n\nNo. 124, 2015\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to amend laws, and deal with transitional matters, in connection with the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Act 2015, and for related purposes\n\n[Assented to 10 September 2015]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2015.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. Sections 1 to 3 and anything in this Act not elsewhere covered by this table The day this Act receives the Royal Assent. 10 September 2015\n- 2. Schedule 1 Immediately after the commencement of sections 3 to 96 of the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Act 2015. 10 March 2016\n- 3. Schedule 2 The day this Act receives the Royal Assent. 10 September 2015\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.\n\n3  Schedules\n\n  Legislation that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.\n\nSchedule 1—Consequential amendments\n\n \n\nOmbudsman Act 1976\n\n1  After section 6D\n\nInsert:\n\n6E  Transfer of complaints to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman\n\n (1) If:\n\n (a)  the Ombudsman forms the opinion that:\n\n (i) a complaint could have been made to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (the ASBFE Ombudsman); and\n\n (ii) the complaint could be more conveniently or effectively dealt with by the ASBFE Ombudsman; and\n\n (b) under the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Act 2015, the ASBFE Ombudsman has the power to deal with the complaint;\n\nthe Ombudsman may decide not to investigate the complaint, or not to investigate the complaint further, and to transfer the complaint to the ASBFE Ombudsman.\n\n (2) The Ombudsman must not make a decision under subsection (1) unless:\n\n (a) the Ombudsman has consulted with the ASBFE Ombudsman about whether it would be more convenient or effective for the ASBFE Ombudsman to deal with the complaint; or\n\n (b) the Ombudsman has consulted with the ASBFE Ombudsman about whether it would be more convenient or effective for the ASBFE Ombudsman to deal with a particular class of complaints, and the complaint is one of that class.\n\n (3) If the Ombudsman makes a decision under subsection (1), the Ombudsman must:\n\n (a) transfer the complaint to the ASBFE Ombudsman as soon as is reasonably practicable; and\n\n (b) give the ASBFE Ombudsman any information or documents relating to the complaint that are in the possession, or under the control, of the Ombudsman; and\n\n (c) as soon as is reasonably practicable, give the complainant written notice that the complaint has been transferred to the ASBFE Ombudsman.\n\n (4) The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Act 2015 applies to the complaint, once transferred, as if a request for assistance had been made to the ASBFE Ombudsman under that Act on the day on which the complaint is transferred.\n\n (5) If a complaint is transferred to the ASBFE Ombudsman under this section, the complaint is taken to be a formal request for assistance made to the ASBFE Ombudsman under the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Act 2015.\n\nSchedule 2—Transitional provisions\n\n \n\n1  Disclosure, collection and use of information and documents held by the Australian Small Business Commissioner\n\nInformation and documents relevant to the advocacy function\n\n(1) The Australian Small Business Commissioner may disclose information and documents obtained by the Commissioner in the performance of the Commissioner’s advocacy functions to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman for the purposes of the Ombudsman performing the Ombudsman’s advocacy function.\n\n(2) The Ombudsman may collect and use the information or documents for the purposes of performing the Ombudsman’s advocacy function.\n\nInformation and documents relevant to the assistance function\n\n(3) If a request for assistance to the Australian Small Business Commissioner has not finally been dealt with by the Commissioner before the commencement of this item, the Commissioner may disclose information and documents relevant to the request to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman for the purposes of the Ombudsman performing the Ombudsman’s assistance function.\n\n(4) The Ombudsman may collect and use the information or documents for the purposes of performing the Ombudsman’s assistance function.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n[Minister’s second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 3 June 2015\n\nSenate on 17 June 2015]\n\n(84/15)\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly scoped to its original purpose of consequential amendments and transitional provisions related to the creation of the ASBFEO. It does not expand beyond the necessary machinery provisions to establish the transfer mechanism and information handover."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute (only 2 substantive sections in Schedule 1, 4 subsections in Schedule 2)","Minimal defined terms (only standard references to existing office titles)","Simple conditional logic (basic 'if-then' tests for complaint transfer)","Heavy reliance on external legislation (references to Ombudsman Act 1976 and Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Act 2015 without reproducing their content)","Straightforward transitional provisions with clear functional purpose"],"plain_english_summary":"This legislation is a 'clean-up' law that makes necessary changes to other laws and handles practical handover matters when the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) was created in 2015.\n\n**What it does:**\n\n*   **Creates a complaint transfer system:** It amends the older Ombudsman Act 1976 to allow the Commonwealth Ombudsman (who handles complaints about federal government agencies) to transfer small business complaints to the new ASBFEO if that office can handle them better. The Ombudsman must consult with the ASBFEO first, hand over all relevant files, and notify the complainant in writing.\n\n*   **Handles the handover from the old office:** Before the ASBFEO existed, the Australian Small Business Commissioner handled small business advocacy. This law allows that Commissioner to pass over any information and documents to the new ASBFEO so nothing gets lost in the transition. It also lets unfinished requests for help move across to the new Ombudsman.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n*   Small businesses and family enterprises making complaints to government\n*   The Commonwealth Ombudsman and ASBFEO offices\n*   The former Australian Small Business Commissioner\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nWithout this law, there would be gaps in handling complaints when the new Ombudsman started work. It ensures small businesses don't fall through the cracks between the old and new systems, and that the right office handles the right complaints."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act is consequential and transitional: it implements operational steps needed after creation of the ASBFE Ombudsman (transferring complaints and files, providing continuity for unfinished matters). It does not broaden the subject matter jurisdiction of Commonwealth agencies beyond that purpose or introduce unrelated regulatory schemes. In short, it operationalises the new office rather than changing the original policy scope."},"complexity_factors":["Short Act: two Schedules plus brief commencement provisions (limited length).","Single inserted provision (new s 6E) with 5 subsections setting conditions, consultation and post-transfer steps.","Transitional provisions are narrowly focused (four items covering disclosure/use of documents and unfinished requests).","Some cross-references to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Act 2015 and to the Ombudsman Act 1976 (dependency on other Acts for substantive effect).","Discretionary standards with open-textured language (e.g. 'more convenient or effective') that create case-by-case factual assessment rather than complex rule trees."],"plain_english_summary":"This short Act enables the Commonwealth Ombudsman to transfer complaints it considers more appropriately handled by the new Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise (ASBFE) Ombudsman and lets the Small Business Commissioner pass files and unfinished assistance requests to the ASBFE Ombudsman. It preserves continuity for complainants, reallocates casework and records between agencies, and raises practical issues around consultation, workload shifts and privacy/record‑handling during the transition."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/australian-small-business-and-family-enterprise-ombudsman-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-","history":"/api/acts/australian-small-business-and-family-enterprise-ombudsman-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-/history","analysis":"/api/acts/australian-small-business-and-family-enterprise-ombudsman-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/australian-small-business-and-family-enterprise-ombudsman-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/australian-small-business-and-family-enterprise-ombudsman-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/australian-small-business-and-family-enterprise-ombudsman-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-/documents"}}