The Value Add
Qld Government Jobs Support Loans

The Queensland state government has released details of their Jobs Support Loans for Queensland businesses and non-profit organisations financially affected by COVID-19 to retain employees and maintain their operations.

Eligible Businesses

Eligible businesses include:

sole traders
partnerships
private and public companies; and
trusts

Those entities must:

be a business which holds an ABN and is registered for GST, or an incorporated non-profit organisation
have one or more equivalent full-time employees in Queensland (working more than 35 hours per week);
have operated the business or non-profit organisation since 1 July 2017;
have suffered a loss of income as a result of COVID-19
be considered viable under normal business conditions;
be able to service the loan under normal business conditions;
intend to continue operations after receiving the loan;
intend to use any surplus liquid reserves or normal credit sources up to normal credit limits, in conjunction with the loan to continue operations

Loan Features

The loan scheme has the following features:

is a total of $500 million
loan of up to 50% of entity’s annual wage expense, to a maximum loan of $250,000
No repayments or interest charged for the first year
Two years interest only
2.5% fixed interest rate
10 year loan term

The annual wage expense is the average of an entity’s wage expense including superannuation over the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 financial years, and includes the salaries or drawings of a business owner if they work in the business.

Loan applications are open to 25 September 2020 or when funding is fully committed.

Loan Security

Loans up to $100,000 will require no loan security.

Loans over $100,000 and up to $250,000 are to be secured by a General Security Agreement.

How Can Loans Be Used?

Loans can be used to meet an entity’s working capital expenses, for example: