The Budget’s Blind Spot: Women as Wealth Creators
- Written by Raffy Sgroi, Founding Coach of Sage Advice and CEO of Car Mechanical Services
As a business strategist working with micro-business owners, family enterprises and women building companies in traditionally male-dominated industries, I'm not looking for special treatment in a Federal Budget.
I'm looking for practical policy that recognises how women actually build businesses and removes the barriers that keep us smaller, slower and more financially exposed.
This year's Budget contains measures designed to increase women's workforce participation, particularly through childcare and paid parental leave reforms. These are welcome steps, but they don't address a bigger issue: women don't just need support to work. We need support to grow businesses, build assets and create wealth.
The distinction matters.
For years, governments have focused on helping women enter or remain in the workforce. Yet comparatively little attention has been paid to helping women access capital, scale businesses and build long-term financial security through entrepreneurship.
That gap remains evident in this Budget.
One of the biggest concerns is the proposed changes to Capital Gains Tax concessions. While the debate has largely focused on investors, the implications for founders deserve attention too.
Women-led startups already receive a disproportionately small share of venture capital and angel investment. When investment conditions become less attractive, businesses that are already struggling to access funding are often the first to feel the impact.
Early-stage investing is inherently risky and requires patient capital. If policy settings reduce the incentive for investors to back emerging businesses, it becomes even harder for founders – particularly women founders – to secure the funding needed to grow.
At the same time, women remain underrepresented as investors and wealth builders. Policies that make long-term investing less attractive risk reinforcing a cycle where fewer women participate in wealth creation, resulting in less capital flowing to female-led businesses.
The Budget also includes proposed changes affecting family trusts. While these measures are often discussed in the context of high-wealth individuals, many small and family businesses rely on trust structures for entirely legitimate reasons.
Trusts are commonly used to manage risk, support succession planning and protect business and family assets. For many of the business owners I work with, particularly in hospitality, retail, trades-adjacent industries and professional services, additional complexity and compliance costs arrive at a time when margins are already under pressure.
The reality is that many women are not running venture-backed startups. They are building sustainable businesses within families and communities, often while balancing significant caring responsibilities.
Which brings us to childcare.
The expansion of childcare support and Paid Parental Leave has been widely promoted as a win for women. In many respects, it is.
However, for business owners, the challenge has never been simply gaining permission to access childcare. The challenge is affordability, availability and flexibility.
Many female founders operate with irregular hours, fluctuating incomes and responsibilities that extend well beyond a standard workday. Access to subsidised childcare means little if places are unavailable, fees remain prohibitive or services don't align with how businesses actually operate.
Similarly, Paid Parental Leave is an important social policy, but it doesn't solve the fundamental challenge facing sole traders and business owners: who keeps the business running while they're away?
Employees return to a role. Founders return to a business that may have stalled, lost momentum or lost revenue altogether.
This highlights a broader issue with how governments approach women's economic participation. Too often, women are viewed primarily as workers and carers rather than entrepreneurs, investors and wealth creators.
If policymakers are serious about supporting women in business, future reforms should focus on the areas that have the greatest impact on growth and financial independence.
That includes improving access to capital for women-led businesses, creating government-backed lending pathways, strengthening procurement opportunities for women-owned firms and making grant programs more accessible to sole operators and micro-businesses.
It also means recognising that economic participation is about more than time. It's about ownership.
Childcare reforms and parental leave measures can help women participate in the economy. But participation and prosperity are not the same thing.
If we want more women building successful businesses, employing Australians and contributing to economic growth, we need policy that supports investment, scaling and wealth creation, and not just workforce participation.
Until then, many women will continue doing what they've always done: building businesses despite the barriers, not because those barriers have been removed.
About Raffy Sgroi: Raffy Sgroi is Founding Coach of Sage Advice and CEO of Car Mechanical Services. She works with micro-business owners, family enterprises and women building businesses in male-dominated industries, helping them strengthen strategy, growth and financial resilience.