• Australia has hundreds of grants and loans for small businesses.Australia image by Stefano Maccari from Fotolia.com
  
  According to the Australian Business Initiative, small business grants are available from the government, the state, territory and your local council. There are only a handful of grants available for starting up your business. More common are grants to expand you business or those relating to innovation, research, development and the like. As one would expect, numerous loans are available through traditional lending organizations. The Australian government also has small business loans to explore.
  
  

Australian Government Funding Centre

• According to the Australian Government Funding Centre, there are hundreds of grants available for small business in Australia. Using this same organization's grant "wizard," you can get a very good idea of grants that may be open to you in a few clicks. For example, input "business" and you learn there are 39 Federal and 57 State grants available. With a few extra details (a small business in New South Wales providing local services, under 15 employees and family-flexible hours for employees) and you learn you could be eligible for up to a quarter of a million dollars of Proof of Concept grants (for a product) and up to AU$15,000 for other types of small business. The kind of grant, the amount of funding available and eligibility all depends on which state you live in and on the nature of the business.
  
  Australian Government Funding Centre
  
  001-61-1800 813 863
  
  australiangovernmentgrants.org
  
  

Australian Government Initiative -- Business

• The Australian Government has a website dedicated to business initiatives. Part of this site is a huge database of grants of all kinds from all areas of this massive country. Grants for arts-based businesses, automotive, manufacturing, bio-business, education...the list is incredibly long, with close to 160 grants just at the starting point of your search. Again, using this database and successfully finding a grant that is available to you will depend on where you live and the nature of the business. However, the database is very informative and easy to use. If the database is too overwhelming or you want to get directly in touch with your local counseling agency, you can also call the Small Business Support Line on 001-61-1800-777-275.
  
  

Small Business Loans

• Loans for small business are also abundant in Australia. Small business loans vary by region, category and institution. It is even possible to find loans for special groups, such as for women or young entrepreneurs. The Australian government also offers small business loans--often guaranteed, low interest and sometimes even "no-interest." The resources above have information on these. As to more traditional lenders, according to NineMSN Money's section on small business loans, interest rates range from 7.74% to 9.24% for variable interest loans and 8.64% to 9.58% for a five-year fixed loan of AU$100,000. Infochoice has a handy tool for comparing 12 Australian banks and 15 different small business loan options. You can compare loans from all states for one to five years. This tool compares minimum and maximum loan amounts, interest rates, fees and more.
  
  Infochoice.com.au