Crowd-funding extended to private business

The federal government has introduced legislation to allow private Australian businesses to access crowd-sourced funding.

Private Australian companies will soon be able to raise money through crowd-funding under new federal government measures.

Legislation introduced to parliament on Thursday builds on measures that passed parliament last year for unlisted public companies.

"This will be a game changer for Australian start-ups and new small businesses," Treasurer Scott Morrison told the lower house.