Australia's Smallest Businesses Are Behind on AI. Two Free Services That Can Help
Only 13 per cent of Australian micro businesses use AI across the whole business, compared with 36 per cent of mid-market firms, according to a survey by Employment Hero, the Australian HR and payroll software company. If you run a business with a handful of staff, that gap probably matches what you see: AI gets talked about, but nobody has had time to set it up.
The federal government already funds free help aimed at exactly this, and two services are open now: a free AI phone line and an eight-week AI Pathfinder course.
The survey: micro businesses versus mid-market firms
The Employment Hero SME Pulse, run with research firm GWI, surveyed 600 senior business leaders in Australia between April and June 2026. According to Employment Hero's write-up of the results, 63 per cent of Australian businesses are increasing their AI investment overall, but the results split sharply by size.
- 13 per cent of micro businesses use AI company-wide, against 36 per cent of mid-market firms.
- 37 per cent of micro businesses describe their use as limited, and 22 per cent are not using AI in any meaningful way.
- 25 per cent of micro businesses have no AI investment at all, against 5 per cent of mid-market firms.
- 50 per cent of micro businesses are increasing AI spend, against 72 per cent of mid-market firms.
Why five-person businesses fall behind
The survey did not ask why. From what we see around Perth, it is usually time. In a five-person business, the person meant to be "looking into AI" is also doing payroll, answering customers and chasing invoices, and there is no IT department to hand it to. AI gets tried once, gives an odd answer, and is not opened again.
Jobs a micro business can hand to AI
You do not need a plan for the whole business. Pick one job that eats time every week. Common starting points:
- Drafting quotes and follow-up emails from your notes
- Summarising a long supplier email or contract before you read the detail
- Turning a voice memo recorded in the ute into a written job report
- Writing Google Business Profile posts and website updates
- Sorting receipts into categories before they go to the bookkeeper
For more examples, see how Perth businesses are using AI day to day.
Call the free AI Information Line: 1800 517 403
The federal government funds AI adoption centres under its AI Adopt program. One of them, the Small to Medium Enterprise Centre of AI (SMEC AI), launched this free national phone line for small and medium businesses in July.
According to SMEC AI's launch announcement, you describe your problem in plain language and an AI voice agent works through some questions and suggests options. It tells you it is an AI at the start. Afterwards you get a written summary by text, and you can ask to book a time with a person from the SMEC AI team.
It gives general information, not professional advice. Use it when you know which job you want help with but not which tool to use.
AI Pathfinder: apply by 16 October if you have a product idea
SMEC AI has opened applications for the fifth round of its free AI Pathfinder program. It runs online for eight weeks from 21 October and finishes with a showcase in December. Applications close 16 October 2026.
This one is for people who want to build an AI product or start an AI business, not for learning to use ChatGPT. It suits an owner who knows a problem in their industry that no existing software handles well. Managing director Andrew Lai: "You no longer need to be a technologist to start an AI company, you just need to have domain knowledge."
SMEC AI has opened Pathfinder to 1,500 Australian founders. The free eight-week course could become Australia's largest AI founder programme, helping small businesses that often lack in-house expertise. #AI #Startups #Australia #SMEs techday.com.au/story/smec-ai-…
A one-week trial on your most annoying task
- Choose the task you put off most, not the most important one.
- Use one tool on it every day for a week. Microsoft 365 Copilot, Google Gemini and ChatGPT can all draft and summarise.
- Leave customer and financial details out of free tools until you have checked how they store your data.
- Read everything before it goes to a customer. AI can state wrong information confidently. Our piece on why AI gets it wrong explains why.
- At the end of the week, decide. Keep the tool if it saved time. If it did not, try it on a different task.
If you would rather not run the trial yourself, we can sit down with you, look at where your week goes, and set up one tool for the job that takes the most time.
