Discover

You must also reside in, or have a business registered, in one of two regions in Melbourne. You can check your location on these maps:  

Inner Metropolitan Melbourne  or  North Western Melbourne 

You must:

• be at least 15 years of age (a person must be 18 years of age to access Small Business Coaching)
• Not be an undischarged bankrupt
• Not be prohibited by law from working in Australia
• Not be an overseas visitor or overseas student

OR

• You may be receiving an eligible Centrelink Allowance, such as JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment Single/Partnered, Disability Support Pension, Carers Payment, or Age Pension
• You may be not receiving a Centrelink payment but are working or studying, and wish to start a business within the next 12 months
• You may be a person who has retired, or who has taken a redundancy, or who is exiting the Australian Defence Force
• You may be a person who is utilising the support of the NDIS / has a Disability and can only allocate some restricted hours to the business

AND you need to be:

• Available to participate in the appropriate Self-Employment Assistance service
• If appropriate, be able to undertake the Small Business Training, commence and work the required hours in your proposed new business
• Not have received the previously named NEIS assistance in the past 12 months 

There is special eligibility for: 

• Retrenched workers
• Veterans
• Family members of serving ADF personnel 

Some participants may be eligible to commence the services before their retrenchment or transition date or under special criteria. If you are unsure if you are eligible, please contact us via the enquiry form and we can check for you. 

Your business or concept will need to meet the following criteria:

• Be able to operate as an independent, and legal entity
• Demonstrate potential commercial viability
• Intend the business to be established, located and operated solely in Australia
• Ensure controlling interest in the business remains with the Self-Employment Assistance participant(s). 
• Your business may be set up under any legal structure, but you need to have a “controlling interest” in its operation.

You may be able to participate in a business advice session if you are setting up a business in an area were Holmesglen provides the service, such as Inner Metropolitan Melbourne or  North Western Melbourne 

You may access a maximum of two business advice sessions within a 12-month period.

A business health check means that different support is provided for different circumstances, and could include:

• mentoring and coaching
• analysis and development of a business plan
• referral to other support services

You may be eligible to access a business health check if:

• the business based in Australia is not yet viable, and is a micro-enterprise
• you are not currently accessing Small Business Coaching 

You may only access one business health check in a 12-month period.

In addition to meeting the personal and business eligibility criteria above, you must have:

• a business concept you can launch on completion of Small Business Training that has potential to become commercially viable

Or

• Your prospective business is not yet commercially viable, but you may have done a little trading. You may have a business plan that we can assess and then determine the next suitable support for you, which may involve small business training, or proceeding to small business coaching.

You need to be 18 years of age at the commencement of your business and be willing to enter an agreement for business coaching and associated support.