The Cybercrime in Australia series aims to provide high-quality and robust evidence on self‑reported cybercrime victimisation, financial losses and other harms, help-seeking behaviour and, importantly, changes over time. This report offers insights into the experience of cybercrime among Australian individuals and small to medium businesses. One in five respondents experienced multiple types of cybercrime.

The report explores the latest trends in business formation in Australia. It identifies measures to improve the operating environment for emerging businesses and calls for a refresh of supporting programs and policies in four key areas: regulation, finance, skills, and culture and competition. It finds Australia has experienced a long-term decline in business ownership rates.

Medium-sized enterprises play an important role in the economy, diffusing technology downstream and connecting large and small firms. However, they are often overlooked. This report seeks to clarify the issues facing the 'missing middle', explore opportunities and shape solutions. It proposes identifying MSEs as a distinct cohort in policy and industry strategy.

This study examines the experiences of 331 Australian individuals and small to medium enterprise owners who were victims of ransomware. It used survey data to understand how they were targeted and the vulnerabilities that were exploited. The results highlight both the human element in victimisation and the need for technological solutions to protect business owners.

Government policy often supports small businesses through lower taxes, lighter labour regulation and grants. Yet this paper finds it is actually young firms that play the most outsized role in economic dynamism in Australia. Using firm-level microdata, the paper draws out this important distinction between firm size and age in firms’ economic contribution, highlighting three...