Business loans in Perth
Perth’s business story right now is a submarine base. The federal investment at HMAS Stirling is pulling construction, trades and specialist suppliers onto defence-grade timelines, in a state that already has the lowest company insolvency rate in the country.
We arrange business loans for Perth businesses by phone and video, across a panel of 80+ non-bank lenders that lend across the whole country.
Does it matter to a lender which city you’re in?
Not directly. Lenders assess your cash flow, trading history and industry, not the fact that you’re in WA. What Perth does change is which industries are busy, and a supplier to a defence build reads very differently from one waiting on the next local contract.
What’s driving finance demand in Perth right now?
Defence has become a significant sector for Perth, and HMAS Stirling is why: the federal government is investing $8 billion over the next decade to expand the base as home to Australia’s future nuclear-powered submarines, a build expected to create around 3,000 direct jobs, on top of a further 500 direct jobs specifically to run the Submarine Rotational Force-West program once UK and US submarines begin rotating through from 2027.
Submarines built in Adelaide, based and maintained in Perth, means a lot of the same construction, trades, plant and equipment demand as any other major infrastructure build: subcontractors, specialist trades and suppliers all need working capital and equipment finance to scale up and keep pace with defence-grade project timelines. If your business sits in or around that supply chain, plant and equipment, logistics, specialist trades, that’s the context a lender is reading when they look at your application, more than the fact that you’re Perth-based.
| Major project | HMAS Stirling naval base expansion |
| Investment | $8 billion over the next decade |
| Direct jobs | Around 3,000, plus 500 more for Submarine Rotational Force-West |
| Timeline | UK/US rotational submarine hosting begins 2027 |
Federal investment over the next decade, expected to create around 3,000 direct jobs.
What do the numbers say about running a business in Perth?
Two numbers worth knowing before you borrow in Perth. First, how long businesses last.
| At June 2026 | Western Australia | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses operating | 278,520 | 2,814,778 |
| Growth in 2025-26 | 4.6% | 3.1% |
| Survived four years to June 2026 | 63.6% | 61.9% |
| Business exit rate, 2025-26 | 13.1% | 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. Western Australia does better than most: 63.6% of its businesses were still trading four years later. That’s the base rate a lender works from, and it’s why trading history counts for more than a forecast.
The second is payroll tax, which is where WA gets expensive. In Western Australia it starts once Australian wages pass $1,000,000, at 5.5%. Western Australia shares the lowest threshold in the country with Victoria, but charges a higher rate on top of it. Above $1 million the threshold itself diminishes on a sliding scale up to $7.5 million, so the effective cost climbs faster than the headline rate suggests.
Because the WA threshold shrinks as payroll grows, the tax bill can rise faster than the wage bill. For a Perth business hiring for a defence contract, that’s worth modelling before the first new starter, not after the first assessment.
The third number is where WA really stands out. ASIC insolvency statistics recorded 830 companies entering external administration for the first time in Western Australia in 2025-26. Set against the number of WA businesses, that’s 2.98 per 1,000 businesses, far below the national rate of 5.03. Western Australia has the lowest company insolvency rate in the country, about 2.3 times lower than the ACT. It also recorded the fastest business growth of any state, at 4.6%.
Two agencies, measuring different things, say the same thing. Across the states, insolvency and four-year survival move almost exactly in opposite directions: a correlation of −0.85. Western Australia is at the good end of both: 63.6% survival and 2.98 insolvencies per 1,000.
Even in the country’s calmest insolvency market, the total isn’t even. Here’s how WA’s 2025-26 administrations split across the six industries we finance most.
| Western Australia, 2025-26 | Insolvencies | Change on 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|
| Construction | 141 | −16% |
| Accommodation and food services | 111 | −34% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 60 | −3% |
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 56 | +12% |
| Retail trade | 49 | +2% |
| Manufacturing | 45 | 0% |
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 Perth-based doesn’t get you here
We don’t have a Perth office, and the time difference is just a scheduling detail. Every client deals with Andrew or one of the brokers he works with, by phone and video. What matters is which of the 80+ lenders on the panel are funding your industry right now.
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.