GrainGrowers’ believes the RIC should be supporting farm businesses and farm-related small businesses. The scope for determining a suitable client shouldn’t be too narrow and the RIC should ensure that it does not become an institution of last resort and maintains a diverse range of enterprises on the balance sheet.
As a broad principle, GrainGrowers believes that where possible streamlining of guidelines and processes should be an ongoing activity by government. The RIC’s current definition for eligible farm businesses, does not seem to be consistent with other government funded programs such as those established by federal (disaster recovery payments) or state jurisdictions (QRIDA and NSW RAA).
This should be a requirement to ensure efficiency from a communications and application perspective from the farmer, accountant, and government.