Low confidence among businesses, alliance says

A regional business group has released some dire confidence numbers to begin the year.

The Victorian Regional Chamber Alliance’s (VRCA) first 2026 Business Health Survey has reported that 44 per cent of business owners are not drawing a living wage, 65 per cent say they sometimes or never have work-life balance and that trading conditions are among the worst since 2020.

Almost 25 per cent of surveyed businesses feel they may not survive beyond 12 months in the current environment.

The alliance is associated with chambers of commerce in Ballarat, Moorabool, Bendigo and the Surf Coast.

“The statistics that have come out of this report should make government stand up and take note,” VRCA chair and Commerce Ballarat CEO Jodie Gillett said.

“Our businesses are exhausted, and they need help right now.”

Gillett said the data from this report and the alliance’s October 2025 survey showed a “continued poor economy” for businesses.

“They’ve been through a pandemic and we’re now six years later, and it’s still an incredibly difficult business environment,” she said.

“So their level of how long can they keep going under such pressure and stress, and then what does it look like in five years’ time if we’ve lost a lot of these successful business owners who’ve decided it’s just too tough?

“The state government needs to start listening and talking.”

Gillett said the alliance would be providing suggestions in the coming weeks of things government could do to assist businesses.

“One very small example is liquor licensing,” she said. “I have a restaurant here in Ballarat that is over 12 months old and they still do not have their full licence approved.

“If we can turn a liquor licence around in three days during COVID, why does it take 12 months now?”