Healthcare equipment is expensive, heavily regulated and dates faster than most business assets. That combination shapes how it gets financed: leasing is more common here than in other industries, fitouts need different treatment from equipment, and lenders often view established practitioners differently from other borrowers. Here's how medical equipment finance and dental equipment finance work in Australia.
Medical, dental, healthcare: what to call it
The wording varies and none of it changes the product. Medical equipment finance and dental equipment finance describe the same arrangement applied to different rooms. Healthcare equipment finance is the umbrella term some lenders use. Medical equipment leasing describes one structure within it rather than a separate product.
All of them mean funding secured against the equipment, or in the case of leasing, paying for its use. Ask for whichever is natural to you. What actually changes the outcome is the structure chosen and how the project is split, both covered below.
What gets financed
- Dental: chairs and delivery units, OPG and CBCT imaging, intraoral scanners, milling units, autoclaves and sterilisation
- Medical and specialist: ultrasound, x-ray and imaging, ECG and monitoring, surgical and procedural equipment, examination furniture
- Allied health: physiotherapy, chiropractic and rehabilitation equipment, podiatry chairs, optometry and audiology equipment
- Veterinary: surgical tables, imaging, anaesthetic machines, laboratory equipment
- Practice infrastructure: sterilisation rooms, compressors and suction plant, practice management systems and IT
- Fitout: cabinetry, plumbing and electrical for surgeries, waiting room and reception
Our equipment finance page covers the wider category, asset finance explained sets out how the whole category fits together, and machinery finance covers industrial equipment outside healthcare.
Buy or lease, and why leasing is common here
In most industries a business buys the asset and keeps it. In healthcare the calculation is different, because imaging and digital equipment can be superseded well before it wears out, and practices compete partly on having current technology.
Chattel mortgage suits equipment you expect to keep and use for its full working life: chairs, sterilisers, furniture, plant. You own it from day one and the lender registers a security interest. See chattel mortgages explained.
Finance lease or hire purchase where ownership timing or the tax treatment suits better; see finance lease versus hire purchase.
Operating lease or rental suits equipment you expect to replace: imaging, scanners, anything where the next generation changes what you can offer. You pay for use rather than ownership, and you hand it back or upgrade at the end. It usually costs more over the life of the asset, and it buys flexibility rather than equity. Which is right depends on how quickly that specific equipment dates, and it's worth deciding item by item rather than financing a whole surgery one way.
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Regulation is part of the security
This is the healthcare equivalent of a crane's inspection records, and it catches people out on used purchases.
Medical devices supplied in Australia generally have to be included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods unless an exemption applies, and the Therapeutic Goods Administration regulates them. A lender is not going to audit that for you. But it bears directly on the finance for a practical reason: a device that cannot legally be supplied, or that the manufacturer no longer supports, service or calibrate, is weak security no matter what condition it is in.
The same logic applies to anything requiring periodic calibration or certification to stay in clinical use. Equipment that falls out of support does not just become a clinical problem, it stops being worth what the lender assumed. On a refurbished or ex-practice purchase, establish support status before price.
Fitout is a different problem
This trips up practices planning a new surgery. Equipment can be security; a fitout largely cannot. Cabinetry, plumbing, partitioning and electrical work are attached to a premises you probably lease, and they have little resale value to a lender. That means the fitout portion is often funded differently from the equipment portion: as an unsecured business loan, or secured against something else, rather than against the fitout itself.
The practical approach is to split the project: finance the equipment against the equipment, and fund the fitout separately. Our business loans page covers the unsecured side. Trying to do the whole thing as one equipment facility is a common reason a practice fitout application stalls.
New practices and buying in
Two situations come up regularly:
Starting a practice. No trading history, significant upfront cost, and income that builds over the first year. What helps is a business plan with realistic patient numbers, evidence of your qualifications and experience, a clear split between equipment and fitout, and a deposit where possible. Some lenders take a favourable view of established health professionals with strong earning histories, though criteria differ and nothing is automatic.
Buying into an existing practice. This usually involves goodwill and business acquisition finance alongside the equipment, which is a different conversation from a straight equipment purchase and typically needs the practice's financials.
How the practice is structured matters for who borrows and who guarantees, particularly for partnerships and companies; our guide to how your business structure affects finance sets that out.
What lenders assess
- Qualifications and registration, and time practising
- The practice: time trading, ABN and GST registration, patient base
- Serviceability, from financials, BAS or bank statements
- The equipment as security: type, expected life, resale market. Specialist equipment with a thin second-hand market is assessed more conservatively than a dental chair
- Credit history, with directors' or partners' guarantees standard
- The equipment versus fitout split
Newer practices that can't produce full financials aren't shut out: low doc business loans are assessed on bank statements, BAS or an accountant's declaration, and who qualifies for a low doc business loan covers the criteria.
Used and refurbished equipment
Refurbished dental and medical equipment is a real market, and it can be financed, though lenders look closely at age, servicing, and whether the equipment remains supported by the manufacturer. Support matters more here than in most categories: equipment that can no longer be serviced or calibrated is difficult security regardless of its condition. If you're buying privately or from a closing practice, search the Personal Property Securities Register at ppsr.gov.au against the serial numbers to confirm nothing is owing, and make the payout of any registered interest a condition of the contract.
The tax side
Equipment bought for the practice generally attracts deductions for depreciation and for the interest component of the finance, and in some years an immediate write-off applies to eligible assets under a threshold, tested against total cost rather than the business-use portion. Lease and rental payments are treated differently again, which is part of why the buy-or-lease decision belongs with your accountant. We've explained the write-off mechanism in how the instant asset write-off works.
Where a broker fits
The two things that decide a medical equipment finance deal are the equipment-versus-fitout split and whether the lender understands healthcare. A lender that regularly funds practices reads a new surgery's projections very differently from one that doesn't, and structuring the project correctly before it goes anywhere is most of the work. Our equipment finance and business loans pages set out what we arrange, Australia-wide.
This article is general information only and is not financial, tax or legal advice. Lender criteria vary and change; confirm the tax treatment of any purchase or lease with your accountant.
Damo Treadgold is the director of Treadgold Finance, an FBAA-accredited finance broker on the Sunshine Coast, arranging equipment, practice and business finance Australia-wide.
FACT REGISTER: HIGH. Claims: medical devices supplied in Australia generally must be included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods unless an exemption applies, and the Therapeutic Goods Administration regulates them; equipment that can no longer be supported, serviced or calibrated is weak security. Also: a PPSR search against serial numbers reveals a registered security interest and payout can be made a condition of contract; equipment bought for a practice generally attracts deductions for depreciation and for the interest component, while lease and rental payments are treated differently; in some years an immediate write-off applies to eligible assets under a threshold tested against total cost rather than the business-use portion. | Source: Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 and TGA guidance on the ARTG; ppsr.gov.au and the PPS Act 2009; ATO capital allowance provisions. | Could change: ARTG inclusion requirements and write-off thresholds both change. The page states NO device classes, ARTG numbers, fees or thresholds. | Verified: 28 October 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between medical equipment finance and medical equipment leasing?
Finance generally ends with you owning the equipment, most often through a chattel mortgage where the lender registers a security interest. Leasing means paying for use instead: under an operating lease or rental you hand the equipment back or upgrade at the end. Leasing is more common in healthcare than most industries because imaging and digital equipment often dates well before it wears out.
Can a practice fitout be financed with the equipment?
Usually not as one facility, and this is the most common reason a practice fitout application stalls. Equipment can be security; cabinetry, plumbing, partitioning and electrical work attached to leased premises largely cannot, because they have little resale value to a lender. The workable approach is to split the project and fund the fitout separately, often as an unsecured business loan.
Can you get equipment finance for a brand new practice?
Often yes, though it needs the right lender. What helps is a business plan with realistic patient numbers, evidence of qualifications and experience, a clean split between equipment and fitout, and a deposit where possible. Some lenders take a favourable view of established health professionals with strong earning histories, but criteria differ between lenders and nothing is automatic.
Can refurbished medical or dental equipment be financed?
Yes, and it is a real market. Lenders look at age, servicing, and crucially whether the manufacturer still supports the equipment. Support matters more here than in most categories, because equipment that can no longer be serviced or calibrated is weak security regardless of condition. Establish support status before you settle on a price.
Does device regulation affect the finance?
Not directly, in that no lender will audit it for you. But it affects the security. Medical devices supplied in Australia generally have to be included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods unless exempt, and a device that cannot legally be supplied or has fallen out of manufacturer support is worth less than its condition suggests. It matters most on used and ex-practice purchases.
Should the whole surgery be financed the same way?
Rarely. The better approach is item by item, because different equipment dates at different speeds. Chairs, sterilisers and furniture are usually worth owning outright and keeping for their full working life. Imaging and digital equipment, where the next generation changes what you can offer, often suits a lease. Financing everything one way usually means getting one half of it wrong.
