The Government has decided to defer the inclusion of small business lending in the National Consumer Credit Protection Act. A senior Treasury adviser wrote to interested parties on Friday with the news that small business finance would not be part of the current round of consumer credit reform.In December, Treasury issued a draft bill for consultation - the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Credit Reform Phase 2) Bill 2012. The draft bill introduced reforms covering credit provided for investment purposes, some forms of private lending, consumer leases and credit provided to small business.In last week's letter to stakeholders, Christian Mikula, a senior adviser in the disclosure and international unit of the retail investor division of Treasury, said: "Consultations so far on the reforms… indicate that there is a need to further examine a number of key issues. "The release of the exposure draft has raised consideration of whether the benefits could be delivered in a more targeted and effective way, through the development of a different model from that in the Phase 2 bill. As a result, any reforms to small business finance will be deferred."The decision is limited to the small business lending reforms. Treasury will continue with its consultation on other parts of the draft bill.Mikula offered no reason for the decision and submissions on the draft are not available yet.A partner at Gadens Lawyers, Jon Denovan, said the draft was a much longer and more complicated document than the industry had envisaged, with a separate set of responsible lending obligations in relation to small business credit, and a separate "credit permit" regime.