Quick info

Disaster assistance loans now available

Published: 14 March 2025

Disaster Assistance Loans and Disaster Assistance (Essential Working Capital) Loans are available for small businesses impacted during Tropical Cyclone Alfred and Severe Weather, commencing 1 March in the following Local Government Areas:

• Brisbane City Council
• Bundaberg Regional Council
• Fraser Coast Regional Council
• Gold Coast City Council
• Gympie Regional Council
• Ipswich City Council
• Lockyer Valley Regional Council
• Logan City Council
• Moreton Bay City Council
• Noosa Shire Council
• Redland City Council
• Scenic Rim Regional Council
• Somerset Regional Council
• Southern Downs Regional Council
• Sunshine Coast Regional Council
• Toowoomba Regional Council

Disaster Assistance Loans are to assist you to re-establish the normal operations of your small business by covering costs such as:

• repairing or replacing damaged plant and equipment
• repairing or replacing buildings
• supplying stock for up to one month to replace lost stock and maintain liquidity of the business
• meeting carry-on requirements including:
  • sustenance
  • paying rent and rates.

Disaster Assistance (Essential Working Capital) Loans are to assist you with essential working capital for expenses such as:

• paying salaries or wages
• paying creditors
• paying rent or rates
• buying goods, including for example, fuel essential to carry on the primary production enterprise
• buying fodder or water for livestock or produce
• transporting livestock or produce.

For information and to apply see Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority.

Emotional support

If you’ve been impacted by the severe weather and are experiencing emotional stress, the dedicated Community Recovery Lifeline Hotline is available. Confidentially speak to a qualified disaster counsellor on 1800 116 671 for help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

As the ongoing disaster in Southeast Queensland continues to impact the local and surrounding areas, we’re working to ensure you have the information your business needs to respond and recover, regardless of you have been affected. And be sure you share this info with businesses who you think could use it! It’s all here:

FREE WEBINAR: Understand, navigate and meet your workplace obligations. Tomorrow, hear from our expert workplace team on what disaster-impacted businesses need to know to manage their workforce. Understand employers’ obligations to their workforce and how to get your team back to business and working in a safe environment.
Date: Tuesday, 11 March 2025 at 9:00am to 9:30am, see recording here.

SURVEY: Our disaster survey is designed to assess Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred’s direct and indirect impact on Queensland businesses. This information is being collected to help you get back to business as soon as possible, to improve planning and service provision for future disasters and to advocate for business recovery support. It only takes 3 minutes to complete. Take the survey here.

ADVICE: Many of you who have businesses in disaster zones may need assistance with managing your workforce during this time. Our expert Workplace Advisory team are on standby to help on 1300 731 988. For more information and answers to frequently asked questions, read our latest workplace blog.

NEWS & UPDATES: Natural disasters are now a regular part of Queensland business life. It is essential governments at all levels recognise the ongoing and regular economic and community impact of natural disasters and more effectively support businesses to build their resilience long term. Throughout this disaster, we are continuing to advocate for you in the media and across all levels of government. Read our media release.

Our team is working to support Queensland businesses. Contact 1300 731 988.

• For workplace support email [email protected]
• For export support email [email protected]

Quadruple whammy: Queensland businesses need support to manage ongoing disaster and escalating economic impacts
Published: 10 March 2025

Disaster impacted businesses in the South East are facing a quadruple whammy of lost income, unplanned closures, unbudgeted expenditure to protect property, and ongoing operational and staff costs on top of essential recovery measures, the state’s biggest business body says.Business Chamber Queensland

CEO Heidi Cooper says businesses in the large disaster zone across South East Queensland have been closed for days and are now facing further costs to put their business back to normal and reopen.“The economic impact and lost productivity is enormous,” Ms Cooper said.“Natural disasters can have significant impacts on businesses and their communities, and business owners will always put the safety of their people and customers first.

We saw businesses across the South East respond quickly to protect their staff, customers and property and also support the communities in which they operate.“However, many of these businesses have been closed for days which means significant impact to revenue while so many still have large operating costs. The financial loss for these businesses is escalating.

“There are businesses in the South East that are sadly facing the all too familiar clean-up from a natural disaster and it is essential these directly impacted businesses have quick responses to support them to recover and get back to business.

“It is important to recognise even businesses which aren’t directly or physically impacted by the disaster are also experiencing significant loss through indirect impacts like lost revenue, road closures, power and service disruptions, workforce unavailability and interruptions to supply chains and their customers.

“The business loss is crippling, and businesses cannot continue to absorb this cost. It is essential support is provided to cover the full extent of the economic impact of this disaster.

“As businesses are able to move from response to recovery, they need to be able to re-open and return to business as usual as soon as they can where it’s safe and feasible to do so.

“There are also many businesses across other parts of the state who rely on our capital city for their daily business operations which means indirect business impacts may be vast and felt throughout Queensland. This is especially concerning given the impact we are seeing on roads, transport and logistics.”

Ms Cooper says the South East disaster comes as much of the state’s business community are already grappling with a challenging business environment and compounding business pressures.

At the same time, businesses in North Queensland continue their long recovery process following the disaster and flooding event in February.

“Unfortunately, natural disasters are now a regular part of Queensland business life,” Ms Cooper said.

“Businesses need to be supported to prepare and protect their business during normal operating times, so they can respond to challenges during disasters or other major disruptions.

“It is essential governments at all levels recognise the ongoing and regular economic impact of natural disasters on our state and effectively support businesses to build their resilience long term so that they can better respond to these types of events.”

Cyclone Alfred: Get your business ready
Published: 5 March 2025, 12:30pm

Cyclone Alfred is expected to affect the southeast Queensland coast and some parts of northeast New South Wales from tomorrow. The Bureau of Meteorology currently lists the areas from Double Island Point to Northern New South Wales as warning zones’, including Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, and Byron Bay.

To access the latest updates and warnings, visit disaster.qld.gov

This means businesses in these areas need to be preparing now.

Help is available for you and your business to prepare, respond and recover. For advice on preparing for a natural disaster, visit Get Ready QueenslandWe know there is a lot of information for business owners to decipher in a time of disaster.  To help you navigate these times, here are the key things for you to be thinking about right now:

• 4. Make plans to keep yourself, your staff and your customers safe
  5. Plan alternatives for power, communication, access and operations
  6. Back-up and secure your documents, financial information, customer details and any other materials needed for business continuity
  7. Review insurance and finances – contact your bank or insurance provider for support

More information on what to do to manage your business during a cyclone is available here.

Make sure you download this information now, so it is readily available to you in case your business experiences power outages.

We’re also here for you. If you need help managing your workforce during this time, contact the Business Chamber Queensland team on 1300 731 988.It is also important to remember that disasters can have direct impacts for businesses in the disaster zone, but also indirect impacts for others in the surrounding regions – and sometimes those impacts are ongoing.

This means businesses right across the state should start to think about ways to manage any indirect impacts on your business such as supply chain disruptions or workforce constraints.

After the cyclone has passed, more information will be available on financial help as well as ways to support recovery.  We are working directly with the Queensland Government to ensure this support is available to impacted businesses as soon as possible to help businesses get back on their feet.

At the same time as businesses in southeast Queensland are preparing for the impacts of Cyclone Alfred, our colleagues in Far North Queensland are continuing to recover from last month’s flooding event.

We are continuing to provide support in these areas and for any effected businesses, financial support is available through QRIDA.

We also know natural disasters can be an incredibly stressful time for business owners and their staff who may already be dealing with other challenges.

If you need support for you or your workforce, contact Beyond Blue

Importantly, if you are experiencing a life-threatening situation at any time during the cyclone, call triple zero (000).Queensland is a state of enormous opportunity but with this comes times of significant challenge.

As many of us face what is predicted to be a devastating natural disaster, the team at Business Chamber Queensland is here for you.

If you’d like to speak to us about disaster impact, response and recovery, or anything on your mind, I again encourage you to call the team on 1300 731 988. While our Brisbane office is physically closed, our team will continue to work to support Queensland businesses, conditions permitting.

Take care and stay safe.
Heidi Cooper
Business Chamber Queensland CEO

International trade assistance during Cyclone Alfred
Due to the developing weather situation in South East Queensland, Business Chamber Queensland’s Brisbane office will be closed from 12pm Wednesday March 5 until further notice.

Manual issuance of Certificates will not be available during this time. Certificates of Origin will only be issued online via essCert or TradeStylus (CertConnect).

If you are using these online platforms, see instructions for essCert here and TradeStylus (CertConnect) here.

For assistance contact 1300 731 988 or email [email protected]. We will respond as quickly as we can, conditions permitting.

Please stay safe during this time.