Free support for business owners in a crisis: money, advice and wellbeing

A crisis in the business is almost always a crisis for the owner too. Sleep goes, decisions pile up, and the people around you are often dealing with their own losses. It helps to know that some of the most useful support available costs nothing at all.

We’re a funding business, and we still think these services should be your first calls. Independent advice makes for better decisions — including decisions about borrowing.

Who can help with money worries for free?

Small Business Debt Helpline — 1800 413 828 A free financial counselling service for small business owners. Its counsellors give free, independent and confidential advice on:

• struggling with business loan repayments
• managing bills and supplier payments
• commercial lease negotiations
• bankruptcy and insolvency concerns
• finding and applying for government grants and funding
• disaster relief support

It’s open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm (eastern time).

business.gov.au — 13 28 46 The Australian Government’s business information service keeps a list of assistance by disaster event, including grants, concessional loans and advisory services, and can point you to state programs.

State recovery and advisory services Some events trigger free advisory services. After the January 2026 Victorian bushfires, for example, business.gov.au listed Business Victoria’s Business Recovery Advisory Service (“free help to navigate support services and plan your recovery”) and its Small Business Financial Counselling Service. See our recovery contacts by state.

Business Enterprise Centres business.gov.au also points to Business Enterprise Centres and its own adviser finder for recovery help.

Who can help with stress and wellbeing?

business.gov.au lists these services for business owners:

Service	What it offers	Contact
Lifeline	24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention	13 11 14
Beyond Blue	Trained mental health professionals	1300 224 636
NewAccess for Small Business Owners (Beyond Blue)	Free one-on-one coaching, six sessions	Via Beyond Blue
Suicide Call Back Service	Professional counselling	1300 659 467
13YARN	24/7 support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people	13 92 76
Your GP	Treatment plans and referrals, including telehealth	Your clinic

If you or someone on your team is in immediate danger, call 000.

Who can help with tax, insurance and scams?

Issue	Where to go
Tax deadlines after a disaster	ATO Emergency Support Infoline — 1800 806 218
Insurance disputes	AFCA — 1800 931 678, free for small businesses
Cyber incidents	Australian Cyber Security Hotline — 1300 292 371; IDCARE small business — 1800 595 170
Scams	Scamwatch (scamwatch.gov.au)
Company matters	ASIC

More on each: ATO disaster support, insurance complaints and our cyber attack page.

How should free support and funding fit together?

The order we’d suggest:

1. Safety and wellbeing — yours and your team’s.
2. Free advice — a financial counsellor or recovery adviser to see the whole picture.
3. Official help — grants, concessional loans, ATO relief, bank hardship.
4. Insurance — lodge, push and, if needed, dispute.
5. Funding the gap — only for what’s left, sized to a realistic forecast.

If you’ve done the first four and there’s still a hole, a short enquiry will get a real person looking at it. No credit check is involved at that point.

What should you bring to a counselling session?

• A list of debts, due dates and who they’re owed to
• Recent bank statements and any BAS or tax correspondence
• Insurance details and claim status
• Any grant or loan applications
• A rough idea of what the business earns in a normal month

Our recovery cash-flow forecast guide helps you turn this into a 13-week picture you can share.

Illustrative example only: a café owner after a flood feels overwhelmed by bills, a stalled claim and staff questions. A session with a financial counsellor produces a list: call the ATO, ask the landlord for rent relief, apply for a recovery grant, and chase the insurer in writing. With those in motion, the remaining gap for restocking is small enough for a short facility.

What can you expect from a financial counselling session?

Owners who haven’t used a financial counsellor before sometimes worry it will feel like being judged. It shouldn’t. A small business financial counsellor’s job is to help you see your whole position clearly and work out options, including ones you may not have considered:

• which debts are most urgent and which can safely wait
• how to approach the ATO, your bank, landlord and suppliers
• whether you qualify for grants, concessional loans or bill relief
• whether the business is viable, and what the choices are if it isn’t
• how to prepare for conversations with lenders

Sessions are confidential, and the service is independent — it isn’t there to sell you anything. For many owners, simply writing everything down with someone else in the room takes a lot of the fear out of it. If you need to talk to someone urgently rather than plan, Lifeline on 13 11 14 answers at any hour.

Look after the people around you too. Your staff may have lost homes, cars or income in the same event. Letting them know about these services — and about the Disaster Recovery Allowance where it’s activated — is a practical kindness that also helps keep your team together.

Ready to look at the funding piece?

Lean on the free services — they’re there for exactly this. When you’re ready to fund what’s left, so are we.

You’ll speak with an actual person who has your details in front of them. Asking what’s possible costs nothing and leaves your credit file exactly as it is. We don’t farm out enquiries — one team holds your file from start to finish.

The more precise you are about the amount, the purpose, your state and any property, the less time we spend going back and forth. Start your enquiry here.