Accessing payment relief for the road transport sector

The Australian Government is ensuring measures are in place to support businesses to access relief from payments, including the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) fuel response payment plan, support from banks and non-bank lenders and interest-free loans offered offered through the Economic Resilience Fund, to keep Australia moving under the National Fuel Security Plan.

These supports for road transport users are in addition to other measures the government has announced to provide relief, such as reductions to Road User Charging and Excise, enhanced ACCC monitoring and changes to road transport contract chain orders.

ATO fuel response payment plan

The ATO is providing temporary relief for businesses unable to meet their tax obligations due to the increased cost of fuel.

The ATO's fuel response payment plan can support business cashflow by:

• Having no upfront payment.
• A 3-year payment plan period of 36 equal monthly instalments.
• General interest charge remission (GIC). The ATO will make a decision to remit any general interest charge that has accrued from the time of your application to the date of the third monthly instalment provided you:
  • pay all instalments agreed under the payment plan for 3 months
  • bring any outstanding lodgements up to date in that period.

The ATO fuel response payment plan is available by application either directly by your business, or through your tax agent. The payment plan is available by application until 30 June 2026.

Information about the fuel response plan, how to check your eligibility and how to apply are available on the ATO website.

Seeking support from bank and non-bank lenders

Australian banks and non‑bank lenders have put in place specialist teams to support small businesses, including road transport operators, struggling with cost pressures and supply chain disruptions as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.

A number of options are available to customers doing it tough, including temporary payment deferrals, loan restructuring and emergency credit limit increases, depending on individual circumstances.

Every business' situation will be different so it's important to contact you bank to understand the support they can provide, but the temporary assistance could include:

• Moving a customer to interest-only payments for a period.
• Deferring payments temporarily.
• Reducing or waiving fees for customers in hardship.
• Restructuring the length of a loan to lower monthly repayments.
• Providing flexible access to savings and term deposit products to support short term cash flow needs.
• Emergency credit limit increases or temporary overdrafts.

If you're unsure of your bank's contact details you can visit the Australian Banking Association's Financial Assistance Hub.

For businesses using a customer owned bank, such as a credit union or mutual bank, detail on the support and contact details is available on the Financial hardship webpage.

Seeking support for bill relief

If your experiencing hardship you can also reach out to your energy retailer, telecommunication provider and insurer to see what support is available.

Economic Resilience Program: zero-interest loans

Eligible Australian businesses can apply for zero interest loans through the $1 billion Economic Resilience Program (ERP). The ERP was designed to assist logistics and manufacturing businesses in areas such as freight, fuel, plastics and fertiliser that are materially impacted by market disruptions and input price rises caused by the conflict in the Middle East, to help maintain essential production and logistics capacity.

The ERP opened on 20 April 2026 and is being administered by participating banks or the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC). An overview of the ERP is below with further and more detailed information on the ERP available on the NRFC's website, including an FAQ document, created to help potential applicants understand the program, its intent, key eligibility requirements and how to apply.

Which businesses are eligible?

For bank-administered loans: to be considered for a loan, businesses must demonstrate that they are:

• An Australian entity with a valid ABN.
• Involved in manufacturing or logistics in one of the industries eligible for support, with an annual turnover of less than $100 million and are seeking a loan of up to $5 million. A business may be eligible for support if its Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) code is listed.
• Materially impacted by market disruption related to current conflicts and global price rises for key inputs.

Applicants must also satisfy the bank's lending criteria.

For NRFC-administered loans: eligible manufacturing and logistics businesses with an annual turnover more than $100 million or those seeking loans of more than $5 million (no maximum amount) should apply directly to the NRFC via erp@nrf.gov.au or the webform on its website.

What can loan funds be used for?

Loan funds borrowed through the ERP can only be used for specific purposes:

• Defray increased costs resulting from increased prices for fuel or related inputs;
• Assist a company's recovery from supply chain, including fuel-related, market disruptions; and
• Used by key manufacturers to increase production of critical products such as fuels, fertiliser and plastics, where Australia has an urgent need to increase sovereign capability in critical supply chains.

Loan funds cannot be used to consolidate or refinance existing debt. This does not include refinancing short term credit card, or fuel card debt incurred from fuel price increases due to the conflict in the Middle East.

What are the terms?

For bank-administered loans: loans through will carry a term of up to two years. While zero interest is payable, the principal amount of the loan must be repaid in full and standard bank fees will apply.

For NRFC-administered loans: loans administered directly by the NRFC are tailored to customer needs. No interest is payable for a bank-administered loan.

How can I apply?

Applications for loans through the ERP opened on 20 April 2026 and will be accepted for 6 months from that date or until funds are exhausted.

For bank-administered loans: Loans of up to $5 million

For companies with an annual turnover less than $100 million and seeking a loan of up to $5 million, applications are administered directly by a participating bank. Details of participating banks are in Table 1 below.

Applications will be assessed by participating banks according to guidance supplied by the NRFC.

For NRFC-administered loans: Loans of more than $5 million

For companies with an annual turnover greater than $100 million or seeking a loan of more than $5 million, applications must be made directly to the NRFC via the web application form at the bottom of Economic Resilience Program webpage, or by email: erp@nrf.gov.au.

What if my application is rejected?

If your application was assessed by a bank, and you believe that the loan assessor has made a mistake, you should contact the bank to discuss the decision. Applicants seeking further information about their eligibility can contact the NRFC by email: erp@nrf.gov.au.

Table 1: Participating banks

Contact

Contact the department by emailing FuelResponse@infrastructure.gov.au.