Australian business confidence is surging with 76% optimistic about growth, but there’s a catch: accessing credit remains stubbornly difficult. Patrick Coghlan from CreditorWatch explains what’s holding businesses back.
What’s happening: Australian business confidence has strengthened significantly, with 76% of decision makers optimistic about growth over the next 12 months and 61% rating past performance positively. Yet accessing credit remains a major challenge.
Why this matters: The disconnect between rising confidence and persistent credit barriers reveals the resilience of Australian businesses, but also highlights systemic funding challenges that could constrain growth. With large businesses unexpectedly facing the greatest credit access difficulties, the findings challenge conventional assumptions about which businesses struggle most to secure finance.
Australian business leaders are increasingly confident about their prospects, yet many are turning to personal savings to fund operations as credit access remains elusive.
CreditorWatch’s national Business Sentiment Survey reveals 76% of decision makers are optimistic about growth prospects for the next 12 months, up from 72% in 2024. Performance ratings also improved, with 61% describing results over the past year as “good” or “very good”, compared to 54% last year.
The improvement spans multiple metrics. Working capital satisfaction jumped 11 percentage points from 69% in May 2024 to 80% in September 2025, with small businesses recording the largest gains.
Yet beneath the optimism lies a stubborn problem.
CreditorWatch CEO Patrick Coghlan says the results highlight both resilience and constraint.
“The results highlight the resilience of Australian businesses and increasing confidence in the future, even with stubbornly tight financial conditions,” Coghlan says.
“Access to finance remains the critical bottleneck. Without easier pathways to funding, many businesses risk being held back from realising their full growth potential.”
Credit barriers persist
Despite increased working capital satisfaction, 56% of businesses reported challenges accessing finance, up from 52% in 2024. High interest rates topped the list of barriers at 55%, followed by complex application processes (45%) and high collateral requirements (37%).
The findings challenge conventional assumptions about which businesses struggle most. Large businesses with 200 or more employees reported the greatest difficulty at 76%, followed by medium businesses at 72%. Small businesses and sole traders reported lower rates of 50% and 41% respectively.
Manufacturing businesses faced particular pressure, with 71% experiencing credit access challenges, followed by finance and insurance at 63% and retail and hospitality at 56%.
Perhaps most striking: 60% of business leaders said they had used personal funds to support working capital over the past 12 months.
Industry and regional patterns
Finance and insurance businesses emerged as the most confident sector, with 74% rating performance positively and 89% optimistic about growth. Manufacturing showed strong growth optimism at 79% but reported the highest reliance on personal funds and greatest credit access difficulties.
Transport and logistics businesses recorded the lowest confidence, with only 43% rating performance positively.
Regional variations were pronounced. Queensland and South Australia led in confidence with 65% of businesses viewing past performance positively, while Western Australia lagged at 49%. New South Wales businesses were most optimistic about growth prospects at 78%.
South Australia saw a particularly sharp increase in credit access difficulties, rising from 39% in 2024 to 56% in 2025.
Coghlan says the demand for risk management tools reflects businesses’ response to tight conditions.
“At CreditorWatch, we’re seeing strong demand for tools that give businesses confidence in who they trade with, whether that’s through real-time credit monitoring, debtor management or payment forecasting,” he says.
The survey findings suggest Australian businesses are navigating a paradox: growing confidence in their own prospects tempered by structural barriers to accessing the capital needed to realise growth ambitions.
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