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AgBiz Drought Loan

Supporting regional Australians to take control of their farm-related small business through drought.

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Purpose

For farm-related small businesses to manage and recover from drought.

Use this loan to:

 

  • Pay employees and contractors

    Pay for salaries and wages.

  • Pay business expenses

    Including rent and rates and current liabilities.

  • Pay for operating expenses

    Pay for fuel and other supplies essential to the business operation.

  • Refinance debt

    Refinance certain existing debt at our low interest rate to improve cash flow.

Loan terms

$500k
Maximum amount
5.18%
Variable rate*
10
Year term
5
Years interest only
$0
Extra repayments
$0
Application Fee **
$0
Early payout fee
No
Redraw
Percentage of total debt

At least 50% of your total debt must initially be with a commercial lender.

Frequency of repayments

Monthly, quarterly, or half yearly, tailored to the cash flow of the farm business.

Repayment structure

First five years interest only, then five years’ principal and interest over a 10-year loan term.

The structure of principal repayments will be dependent upon a number of key factors, including the loan amount, the purpose of the funding and the nature of the security.

The principal of the loan may be repaid (wholly or partly) at any time during the term of the loan without incurring a fee.

Full terms and conditions are available in the loan guidelines.

* Any changes to interest rates will be effective on 1 February and 1 August each year.

** RIC does not charge application fees or ongoing loan management fees. Borrowers may need to pay third‑party costs associated with establishing, varying or managing their loan.

Eligibility

You
  • are an Australian citizen or permanent resident
  • have at least one member of your small business contributing at least 75% of their labour to the small business (under normal circumstances)
  • have at least one member of your small business deriving at least 50% of their income from the small business (under normal circumstances)
Your business
  • is in financial need of a loan
  • is not a farm business
  • has fewer than 20 employees other than casual employees
  • supplies goods or services relating to primary production to farm businesses in affected areas
  • has had a reduction in the turnover; or an increase in unsecured debt as a result of drought
  • has the capacity to repay the loan
  • is financially viable in the long term
  • has existing commercial debt is registered for tax purposes in Australia with an ABN and is registered for GST
  • operates as a sole trader, trust, partnership or private company
  • is not under external administration or bankruptcy
You must
  • provide security for the loan
  • secure the support of your commercial lender for the proposed loan
  • repay the loan
You cannot use this loan for
  • purchase of private and domestic assets
  • payment of private and domestic expenses
  • capital expenditure
  • purchase of and/or investment in non-small business assets and expenses
  • payment of tax and statutory payments
  • your own labour costs
  • reimbursement for depreciation of assets
  • payment of dividends or other distributions of equity to owners
  • activities funded under other Commonwealth and state or territory government programs.

Eligible industries

RIC AgBiz Drought Loan is available for drought-affected small businesses with a direct dependency on farmers and provide primary production-related goods and services to farm businesses affected by drought.

Activities eligible for AgBiz Drought Loans are listed under: 

Affected areas

To be eligible for an AgBiz Drought Loan, your small business must be, or have been, supplying goods or services relating to primary production to farm businesses located in an affected eligible area. Please see the map below. 

Please contact us on 1800 875 675 or email info@ric.gov.au to discuss the affected area eligibility of the AgBiz Drought Loan.  
 

Resources

Guidelines

We will assess your application against the criteria in the loan guidelines.

Read the detail on who can apply for a loan and what happens after you apply.

AgBiz Drought Loan Guidelines [679 kB]

Document checklist

If applying online, follow the document checklist to ensure you submit a complete application.

RIC Loan Document Checklist [197 kB]

Application form

We recommend you use the online application form. 

Online application form


An offline, hardcopy form is available for download below.
Only use the offline form if you prefer to submit your application by email or post.

Complete this form on your computer, or print and fill it in by hand using a black or blue ink pen only.

  • Right click on the link and select 'save target as' or 'save link as' to download the form.
  • Open the form using Acrobat Reader. Download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.
  • Save the application form regularly as you are filling it in.
  • The form will not work when opened in a web browser or other software, e.g. Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Safari, Preview.
AgBiz Drought Loan offline application form [454kB]

Cash flow budget

You must include your business cash flow budget with your application.

We will use this to help assess your financial position, and your ability to repay the loan.

If you do not have your own budget spreadsheet, you can use our template.

AgBiz Cash Flow Budget Template

Fact sheet

Download a printable fact sheet for this loan product.

AgBiz Drought Loan fact sheet

Guidelines

We will assess your application against the criteria in the loan guidelines.

Read the detail on who can apply for a loan and what happens after you apply.

AgBiz Drought Loan Guidelines [679 kB]

Document checklist

If applying online, follow the document checklist to ensure you submit a complete application.

RIC Loan Document Checklist [197 kB]

Application form

We recommend you use the online application form. 

Online application form


An offline, hardcopy form is available for download below.
Only use the offline form if you prefer to submit your application by email or post.

Complete this form on your computer, or print and fill it in by hand using a black or blue ink pen only.

  • Right click on the link and select 'save target as' or 'save link as' to download the form.
  • Open the form using Acrobat Reader. Download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.
  • Save the application form regularly as you are filling it in.
  • The form will not work when opened in a web browser or other software, e.g. Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Safari, Preview.
AgBiz Drought Loan offline application form [454kB]

Cash flow budget

You must include your business cash flow budget with your application.

We will use this to help assess your financial position, and your ability to repay the loan.

If you do not have your own budget spreadsheet, you can use our template.

AgBiz Cash Flow Budget Template

Fact sheet

Download a printable fact sheet for this loan product.

AgBiz Drought Loan fact sheet

Interested in an AgBiz Drought Loan?

Explore our educational toolkit to help you understand if you are eligible for a RIC loan.

Before you apply

Ready to start a RIC loan application?

Check what you need before starting an application, download helpful resources and apply for a RIC loan.

 

How to apply

Ask a question

Get in touch if you have a question about the AgBiz Drought Loan.

Contact us