Business loans in Brisbane
Brisbane is building toward the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the construction supply chain is already feeling it.
We arrange business loans for Brisbane businesses by phone and video: term loans, lines of credit, asset and invoice finance, across a panel of 80+ non-bank lenders.
Does it matter to a lender which city you’re in?
Not directly. A lender assesses the business, not the postcode. But in Brisbane, the industry a business sits in is being reshaped by the Games build, and that’s what a lender will be reading: who you’re contracted to, and whether you can staff the work.
What’s driving finance demand in Brisbane right now?
Civil construction has been a hot sector across Australia for a while, and Brisbane is the clearest example of it anywhere in the country: the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games carry a $7.1 billion venue construction and upgrade budget, and the same reporting flags a projected shortfall of 19,100 construction workers a year over the next eight years as Games venues compete with Brisbane’s other major health and transport projects for the same labour pool.
That squeeze cuts both ways for a business in or around construction: real demand for subcontractors, plant hire and trades, but real pressure on staffing, equipment finance and cash flow to deliver the work on time. Whether it’s asset finance to bring on the next truck or excavator, or a working capital facility to cover payroll while you wait 30 to 90 days to get paid, that’s the shape of what a lender is reading in a Brisbane construction application right now, more than the fact that you’re Brisbane-based specifically.
| Major project | 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games venue build |
| Venue investment | $7.1 billion |
| Projected workforce shortfall | Average 19,100 construction workers a year, over the next 8 years |
Venue construction and upgrade budget, with a projected shortfall in skilled labour already being flagged.
What do the numbers say about running a business in Brisbane?
Two numbers to know before you borrow in Brisbane. The first is survival.
| At June 2026 | Queensland | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses operating | 543,277 | 2,814,778 |
| Growth in 2025-26 | 3.7% | 3.1% |
| Survived four years to June 2026 | 62.3% | 61.9% |
| Business exit rate, 2025-26 | 13.4% | 13.8% |
Figures from the ABS counts of Australian businesses, released August 2026. Nationally, of the 2,539,724 businesses operating in June 2022, 968,275 (38.1%) had closed by June 2026. Queensland runs slightly better, at 62.3% still trading four years later. That’s the base rate behind every Queensland application, and it’s why trading history counts for more than a forecast.
The second is payroll tax, and Queensland is one of the gentler states. In Queensland it starts once Australian wages pass $1,300,000, at 4.75%. On a $1.5 million wage bill that is roughly $9,500 a year, against about $24,250 for the same payroll in Melbourne. The rate rises to 4.95% once Australian wages pass $6.5 million.
Even a gentle payroll tax is a new monthly bill, and it tends to arrive in the year a Brisbane business has just put on staff. That’s often when the buffer is thinnest, and one of the more common reasons a Queensland business comes looking for a facility in its second or third year of growth.
And a third, from a different agency again. ASIC insolvency statistics recorded 2,706 companies entering external administration for the first time in Queensland in 2025-26. Set against the number of Queensland businesses, that’s 4.98 per 1,000 businesses, just below the national rate of 5.03. Queensland is the only one of the larger states where insolvencies rose slightly in 2025-26 rather than falling, though its rate remains a little below the national figure.
Different agencies, different methods, same direction. Across the states, insolvency and four-year survival move almost exactly in opposite directions: a correlation of −0.85. Queensland, at 62.3% survival and 4.98 insolvencies per 1,000, sits close to the national average on both. Watch the direction, though: it’s the only larger state where insolvencies rose.
And here’s how Queensland’s 2025-26 administrations split across the six industries we finance most.
| Queensland, 2025-26 | Insolvencies | Change on 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|
| Construction | 569 | +1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 389 | −16% |
| Retail trade | 290 | +73% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 174 | −4% |
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 142 | +21% |
| Manufacturing | 123 | +10% |
ASIC counts companies entering external administration, so it excludes sole traders and partnerships, which are most Australian businesses. Treat the rate as a comparison between states rather than the odds for any one business. ASIC insolvency statistics released 14 September 2026; complete financial years only, because the August 2026 month includes 542 related companies from a single corporate group.
Payroll tax thresholds and rates are as published by the relevant state revenue office and were checked on 20 September 2026. They change at 1 July, so confirm the current figure before relying on it.
What being Brisbane-based doesn’t get you here
No Brisbane office, and we won’t dress it up as one. Clients work with Andrew or one of the brokers he works with, by phone and video, from the Gold Coast to the Sunshine Coast. What matters is which of the 80+ lenders on the panel are funding construction and its supply chain right now, and that doesn’t depend on where the broker sits.
Frequently asked questions
Give us the basics below and we’ll call you within the hour, or at the time you choose, then come back with the two or three offers worth your time.