RIC expands farm relief team across Australia

An Orange-based national agricultural lender is expanding its workforce by nearly a third to manage the entire loan process in-house, aiming to speed help for drought and flood-affected farmers across the country.

The Regional Investment Corporation, which helps farmers recover and grow after severe business disruption caused by flooding, drought, and other natural disasters, has approved more than 2,910 loans valued at over $3.15 billion since launching five years ago. Its latest expansion aims to streamline that service further.

The RIC is recruiting 27 new employees to expand its base of 70 workers, bringing specialist positions in customer services, agri-lending, IT, finance, and systems management. Chief Executive Officer John Howard said the shift reflects a commitment to handle the entire loan lifecycle without external partners.

"We will be managing the lot ourselves and they will be dealing with the RIC for every stage," Mr Howard said. The overhaul includes building an in-house contact centre and loan management system to replace the patchwork of external service providers the organisation previously relied on.

"We've done significant parts of it before but we are increasing our base of how we do that," he said, adding the move will deliver a "significantly improved experience" for customers navigating the loan process. For farmers under financial stress from natural disasters, that streamlined path from application to disbursement to long-term management can make the difference between keeping the farm afloat and losing it.

Program delivery executive director Alli Gregory outlined how the integrated model works: when an application arrives, the RIC handles assessment, loan documentation, disbursement, settlement, and ongoing management over the loan's 10-year term. That end-to-end ownership is expected to improve responsiveness and turnaround times across the country.

"From a customer perspective when an application comes in we do an assessment, we do all the loan documentation, we disperse and settle the loan and then we manage the loan for the rest of the 10-year loan term," Ms Gregory said. "The expansion will enable the RIC to be more responsive, and more timely, with faster communication with customers."

The recruitment campaign reflects the RIC's commitment to maintain a regional footprint. Mr Howard emphasised that finding staff with genuine affinity for the farming community remains crucial to the organisation's mission.

"One of the things we've found really important is actually having a workforce that's got a great affinity with the farmers and the farming community that we're dealing with," he said.

That regional focus is evident in the RIC's current staffing: nine in ten existing employees work regionally, with 67 per cent based in Orange and the Central West. The new recruitment will preserve that balance, with career opportunities available both at the Orange head office and across Australia via remote and hybrid positions.

The expansion underscores the growing demand for the RIC's support as climate-driven disasters continue to strain farm finances. As a government-backed organisation, the RIC has become a critical lifeline for rural communities facing drought, flooding, and other crises—and the added workforce signals confidence that demand will only increase.