Luke Achterstraat will step away from the Council of Small Business Organisations (COSBOA), departing the prominent advocacy group after two-and-a-half years as CEO.
Achterstraat has tendered his resignation to the COSBOA board, the group confirmed on Friday, with the board now considering next steps to fill the leadership position.
“I think the stage is set for a really big next phase of COSBOA,” Achterstraat told SmartCompany on Monday.
“Whoever the next leader is, I think it’s a very exciting opportunity for them, and I have no doubt that the organisation will go from strength to strength.”
Achterstraat joined COSBOA as CEO in May 2023, after serving as NSW executive director of the Property Council of Australia and as a staffer within the Liberal Party.
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He filled a role left vacant by former CEO Alexi Boyd, who exited the organisation after a contentious memorandum of understanding with unions ahead of the Albanese government’s Jobs and Skills Summit.
Under his tenure, COSBOA welcomed new member groups representing the building sector and automotive dealers, through to music therapists.
On the government relations front, it secured $23.4 million in taxpayer funding in Labor’s 2023-24 budget to deliver the Cyber Wardens training program for small businesses.
In 2024, COSBOA became the only business group certified under the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s urgent complaints system, giving serious small business concerns a fast-track to the competition watchdog.
Federal grant funding spawned Business Peak, a digital platform for small businesses trying to understand their obligations under new workplace legislation.
COSBOA also secured a seat at the recent economic reform roundtable in Canberra, which chair Matthew Addison attended as Achterstraat took a period of leave.
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Elsewhere in Canberra, Achterstraat said the organisation was able to present a small business voice to the ‘Teal’ independents and crossbenchers like Senators Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock.
“I genuinely feel COSBOA is really entrenched now as a tier-one peak body,” said Achterstraat.
“It’s very clear that when government needs the small business perspective, it goes directly to COSBOA without hesitation,” he continued.
In a statement, Addison said COSBOA under Achterstraat successfully “influenced the national debate” around small business issues and key hardships.
“Luke’s experience in government brought a significant increase in the positive political and public profile of COSBOA,” said Addison.
“On behalf of the Board of COSBOA, I thank him for the progress and commitment he brought to the role.”
Shadow Minister for Small Business Tim Wilson, who spoke last month at COSBOA’s national summit, thanked Achterstraat for his representation.
He has “helped elevate the concerns of small business owners and operators, ensuring their voices were heard in national debates on industrial relations, taxation, competition and the challenges of a changing economy,” said Wilson, in a statement shared Friday.
With Addison representing COSBOA in the interim, the board is now considering options for its CEO position.
