The ACS says its fact sheet containing tips for businesses that do not have a history of working from home provides SMBs with the basic steps required to maximise working from home arrangements over a three-month timeline.

ACS President Dr Ian Oppermann said “Following the meeting of the National Cabinet yesterday, the advice has been unequivocal – businesses are strongly encouraged to work from home where you can do that.”

“Public health must be our primary objective in combating COVID-19. The secondary objective after must be keeping the economy strong and consequently to save jobs. Any loss of skills, capacity or capability from the Australian economy will lead to a slowdown coming out of the current economic volatility, and that will impact living standards.

“We wanted to play our part by enabling small business to prioritise health, and keep their businesses going in unprecedented times.”

The ACS says the fact sheet covers sharing your business plans and approach to minimising COVID-19 risk with your customers, documenting your chain of command, prioritising load testing your network this week for remote access, solutions to ramp up internet bandwidth at a team member’s home, collaboration tools to maximise efficiency working remotely, cyber security hygiene, and backup plans.