You can apply for this loan if you solely or mainly sell products into supply chains that are interstate or outside Australia, or plan to in the future.
You
- are an Australian citizen or permanent resident
- contribute at least 75% of your labour to the farm business (under normal circumstances)
- earn at least 50% of your income from the farm business (under normal circumstances)
- own or lease land and use it for farming purposes (includes agistment)
Your business
- is in financial need of a loan
- has the capacity to repay the loan
- is financially viable in the long term
- has existing commercial debt
- is in the agriculture, horticulture, pastoral, apiculture, or aquaculture industry
- 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
Purpose
Strengthen your farm business. Take steps to access markets interstate or outside Australia. Prepare for, manage through or recover from drought.
Use this loan to
- refinance your debt
- enhance your productivity
- pay for operating expenses or capital
- fund drought-related activities
You cannot use this loan for
- non-farm assets and expenses
- paying out dividends or equity to owners
- reimbursement for depreciation of assets
- tax or other statutory payments
- your own labour costs
- anything that you have already received government funding for (except to refinance debt from a previous concessional loan)
- any other non-eligible use listed in the loan guidelines
Quick facts
| Amount | Up to $2 million | Term | 10 years |
| Early settlement | No fee | Interest rate | 1.92% variable rate |
| Apply | Anytime | Application fee | No fee |
| Extra repayments | No fee | Redraw | Not available |
More terms
Percentage of total debt — at least 50% of your total debt must stay with a commercial lender.
Frequency of repayments — tailored to the cash flow of the farm business.
Repayment structure — first 5 years interest only, then principal and interest for remainder of the 10 year term. After 10 years, you can refinance any remaining balance with a commercial lender.
Full terms and conditions are available in the loan guidelines.
Before you apply
You need to check
- you can meet the loan eligibility criteria
- you understand the terms of the loan
- you have read the detail in the loan guidelines
You need to have
- Australian Business Number (ABN)
- financial history
- identity documents
- proof of your eligibility
- your business cash flow budget
Ask us a question
We are here to help
- Call us on 1800 875 675
- Email us through our online contact form
Apply
- Check the information you will need to provide. Please note financial information for FY2019 will be considered in scope until 31/12/2020
- Talk to your commercial lender. Let them know you plan to apply for a RIC loan.
- Gather the required information. The more you provide, the faster we can assess your application.
- Due to our response to COVID-19, we encourage you to submit your loan application electronically if possible. You can also send your application by post using the details below.
Submit your application to us at loans@service.RIC.gov.au or send to: Regional Investment Corporation, PO Box 796, Bendigo, VIC 3552.
If you have any questions we encourage you to talk to our loan assessment team. You can call them on 1800 875 675
You can complete this form on a computer (Fillable PDF) or you can print it and fill it in by hand.
You are not able to save the form when opened in a browser.
To use the Fillable PDF application form you must download it to your desktop first. Right click on the link above and select 'save target as' or 'save link as' and download the form to your desktop.
Open the form on your desktop using Acrobat Reader. Make sure you save the application form regularly as you are filling it in. The fillable PDF form will not function correctly when it is opened in a web browser or other software, for example Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Preview.
You can download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.
Help and support
After you apply
We will assess your application against the criteria in the loan guidelines.
We may contact you by phone or email to discuss your application, if needed. We will write to you to confirm the outcome of your application.
Help centre
Do you have a question?
Our online help and support centre may have the answer.
Resources
Application form
Complete the application form and send it with supporting documents to loans@service.RIC.gov.au.
Download: Right click on the form and save on your local device as an Adobe Acrobat Document before you begin filling out the form.
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.
Download:
This template may not meet government accessibility requirements. Contact us for help.