Equipment finance in Brisbane

Ask an equipment lender about a Brisbane deal and, sooner or later, three questions come up. Where will the gear be kept? What’s under the bonnet? And how sure is the work that’s meant to pay for it? Those sound unremarkable, but in south-east Queensland each one has a local answer that changes the cost or the approval.

This page works through those three questions. For a general explanation of the product, start with our equipment finance explainer. Everything here is specific to Brisbane and the Queensland rules that apply. We don’t run a Brisbane office; enquiries are dealt with by phone and online.

Question one: where will the equipment live?

Brisbane’s industrial land follows the river and the bay, and some of it floods. Rocklea, Archerfield, Oxley, parts of Eagle Farm and low-lying pockets along the creeks were hit hard in 2011 and again in 2022. Plenty of transport yards, workshops and plant hire depots sit in those same suburbs because the land is flat and close to the motorways.

Lenders don’t avoid those areas, but they do protect themselves:

• Comprehensive insurance is compulsory under nearly every equipment finance contract, with the financier noted as an interested party.
• Premiums or excesses can be higher for gear kept on flood-affected sites, and some insurers restrict flood cover. That cost sits on top of your repayments.
• Mobile plant can move. A practical flood plan that shifts excavators, trucks and trailers to higher ground when warnings are issued protects your business and reassures the insurer.

If your business has already been through a flood or storm and lost equipment, our guide to business loans after natural disasters covers finance while insurance claims are pending.

Question two: what’s under the bonnet?

This is the Queensland quirk most buyers don’t expect. Rather than one rate for all vehicles, registration duty is set by engine type. For light vehicles (4.5 tonnes or less) the rates per $100 of dutiable value are:

Engine	Up to $100,000	Over $100,000
Hybrid or electric	$2	$4
1 to 4 cylinders	$3	$5
5 or 6 cylinders	$3.50	$5.50
7 or more cylinders	$4	$6

Trucks above 4.5 tonnes follow the same engine-based scale, minus the $100,000 step. Conditionally registered special vehicles, a category that includes forklifts, tractors and graders, pay a flat $25.

The differences add up across a fleet. A landscaping firm in Brendale buying three $62,000 utes pays roughly $1,860 duty per vehicle if each has a four-cylinder engine, or $1,240 each for hybrids: $1,860 less over the three. Choose the vehicle on what the job needs, not the duty, but if two options suit equally well, the engine type affects the cash you need upfront or the extra you finance. The equipment finance calculator helps compare totals.

Weighing up a fleet purchase? Give us the outline in our short form. Roughly a minute of typing, with no effect on your credit rating.

Question three: how sure is the work?

South-east Queensland has a long pipeline of construction ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, along with rail, road and housing projects. For civil contractors, earthmovers, concreters and crane operators, that pipeline justifies new plant. Lenders like it too, but they finance machines, not optimism. For larger purchases they’ll want to see:

• a signed subcontract, purchase order or letter of award
• your history of completing similar work
• a sensible ratio between the repayments and the income the machine will generate
• for newer businesses, a deposit or a property-owning director

Excavators, tippers, rollers and loaders win lender favour because buyers for them are never far away. Our page on earthmoving contractor business loans explains how lenders view those businesses in more detail.

Beyond construction, other Brisbane sectors buy equipment regularly. Near the port and across the TradeCoast industrial area, freight forwarders and warehouses finance forklifts, reach trucks and prime movers. Food manufacturers at Yatala and Murarrie fund processing and packing lines. Medical practices across the inner suburbs finance imaging and dental equipment.

A Brisbane example

A hypothetical scenario, not a real client.

A concreting business based at Narangba has won a three-year subcontract on a residential estate and needs a concrete pump truck ($420,000) and a skid-steer loader ($78,000). It has traded for five years, owns no yard, and keeps its gear at a leased site near the North Pine River.

• The bank offers to fund the skid steer but wants property security for the pump truck. The owners rent their home, so that’s not possible.
• An independent asset financier funds both under one chattel mortgage, taking a 10% deposit on the pump truck and using the subcontract as evidence of future income.
• The skid steer is conditionally registered, so Queensland duty on it is $25. The pump truck, as a heavy vehicle, pays duty at its per-cylinder rate on the full value.
• The insurer asks for a flood plan for the yard. The owners agree to move the pump truck to a client site whenever a flood watch is issued.

Banks lead, specialists follow

When a business ticks every box, Queensland’s banks are often the cheapest equipment lenders around, and it’s worth asking yours first. Plenty of Brisbane owners are approved that way.

When the bank declines, wants property, or can’t meet a supplier’s timeline, independent lenders such as Selfco, Angle Finance and Pepper Money fund a wide range of assets. For borrowing beyond equipment, see Brisbane business loans and Brisbane unsecured lending. If a supplier or landlord dispute is holding things up, the Queensland Small Business Commissioner offers factsheets and help with payment and leasing issues.

Got the quote? Let’s get the gear on site

Plant that sits waiting on finance earns nothing. If you have a quote, a delivery date or a contract that needs the machine, now is the time to test the market.

The enquiry is quick, about sixty seconds, and makes no mark on your credit history. Nobody else receives your details in bulk; one team handles your request from start to finish. A person reads through the asset, the work behind it and your timing, then calls to talk options. Let us know the make, model, engine, price and where the equipment will be kept, because accurate information lets us match a suitable lender the first time.

Find finance for my Brisbane equipment →