Small businesses affected by the floods in north Queensland have been given access to additional funding with half of the $50,000 Special Disaster Assistance Recovery Grants available upfront through the jointly funded Commonwealth-Queensland Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DFRA).

The boost comes after the Premier wrote to the Prime Minister recommending the upfront payment in order to urgently help small businesses carry out repairs and recommence trading.

Minister for Employment and Small Business Shannon Fentiman said, “Cashflow is the lifeblood of small business and more small businesses need to be able to quickly and easily access the available disaster assistance funding to support their recovery from this event.

“The feedback we received was it was restrictive to the recovery process with the initial grant capped at $10,000 and this has been increased to $25,000.”

Member for Mundingburra Coralee O’Rourke said the Small Business Recovery Centre opened in February in Townsville to bring immediate support and enable small businesses to access services from across all three levels of government.

“To date, the centre has been contacted more than 1100 times by small businesses looking for advice, support and referrals with issues around insurance, loss of income, leasing and legal issues as they aim to not just recover from this disaster but get their operations growing again.”

“This includes information about the DRFA Category B loans and Category C grants that had been made available to small businesses in the declared areas.”

Small business owners impacted by flooding can call the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) on 1800 623 946 for assistance and information on the grants and concessional loans that are available, visit www.qrida.qld.gov.au or drop into the Small Business Recovery Centre at 143 Walker Street, Townsville.

Source: Queensland Government: Small business given access to $25,000 upfront to support recovery

11 Apr 2019