Rural and Regional Adjustment Regulation 2011

For an applicant to be eligible to receive assistance under the scheme for an eligible disaster, the authority must be satisfied—

the applicant is a small business owner; and

immediately before the eligible disaster, the applicant carried on a small business in the defined disaster area; and

the applicant has sustained substantial damage to buildings, plant, equipment or stock of the small business as a result of the eligible disaster; and

the applicant has not taken excessive risks in carrying on the small business; and

the applicant has taken reasonable precautions to avoid or minimise loss or damage from the eligible disaster; and

the applicant is responsible for the cost of essential repairs or replacement of the damaged assets and as a result has had liquidity severely affected; and

the applicant has used all liquid assets and normal credit sources up to normal credit limits; and

the applicant can not repair or replace the damaged assets, or return to viable operations from the applicant’s own resources, without assistance under the scheme; and

the applicant will continue to carry on or will re-establish the small business at the same place or elsewhere in the local government area where the business was carried on before the eligible disaster; and

with the assistance under the scheme, the applicant has reasonable prospects of carrying on or re-establishing the small business on a viable basis.

A public company, whether acting alone or with another company, is not eligible for assistance under the scheme.