Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2021C00016:body:0:p7
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2021C00016
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 16671–19620

interest‑only period starting on the day the loan was drawn down and ending on 31 December 2019;
            (ii) an interest‑free period starting on 1 January 2020 and ending on 31 December 2021;
            (iii) an interest‑only period for the remainder of that 5‑year period; and
       (b) the Corporation must give a written notice to the farm business stating the effects of this subsection and subsection (5) in relation to the particular circumstances of the loan.

         Note: Paragraph (a) does not affect the terms of the loan as they apply in relation to the period of the loan remaining after the end of the 5‑year period mentioned in that paragraph.

Election for amendment not to apply
    (5) If a farm business to which a drought loan has, before commencement, been offered or made gives a written notice to the Corporation before 1 January 2020 electing not to be covered by subsection (3) or (4):
       (a) the amendment does not apply in relation to the offer or the loan (as the case may be); and
       (b) the farm business is not covered by subsection (3) or (4) (as the case may be).
    21 Regional Investment Corporation (Drought and Small Business Drought Loans)(Cessation of Interest‑Free Period) Amendment Instrument 2020—transitional and application provisions
    (1) In this section:
commencement day means 1 October 2020.

         Note: This is the day on which the instrument that made the relevant amendments commenced.
relevant amendments means the amendments to this Operating Mandate made by the Regional Investment Corporation (Drought and Small Business Drought Loans)(Cessation of Interest‑Free Period) Amendment Instrument 2020.
    (2) Where an application for a drought loan was made before the commencement day, this Operating Mandate applies in relation to the application and any loan offered on the basis of the application as if the relevant amendments had not been made.

SCHEDULE 1 – FARM BUSINESS CONCESSIONAL LOAN PROGRAM
Policy objectives
Farm business concessional loans seek to support the long‑term strength, resilience and profitability of Australian farm businesses by helping them to:

       (a) build and maintain diversity in the markets they supply and take advantage of new and emerging opportunities across Australia and overseas; or
       (b) prepare for, manage through and recover from periods of drought.
   Loan specifications

    Offering farm business concessional loans
The maximum amount of an applicant's farm business concessional loan or loans is the lesser of:
       (a) an amount that would result in the farm business having 50 per cent of its total debt in Commonwealth funded concessional loans; or
       (b) $2 million in total.
       Note:  'Total debt' is the sum total of debt established on commercial terms, at commercial interest rates, plus all Commonwealth funded concessional loans provided to the farm business; and
       'Commonwealth funded