In addition to submissions received by the Commission, the Commission also consulted broadly with a number of industry participants, rural financial counsellors, legal aid commissions, regulators and affected consumers to inform its lines of inquiry. Based on this information, the Commission identified significant concerns about the conduct of the major banks and medium-sized financial services entities that specialised in agricultural lending.
In reviewing the public submissions, the Commission noted that a number of submissions raised issues that were relevant to other hearing rounds including issues already explored about responsible lending and poor administration of loans and accounts in earlier rounds (consumer lending, Round 1, and small and medium enterprises, Round 3).
Many public submissions highlighted the emotional and reputational impact of the financial difficulties faced by farmers, and in the worst case scenarios, the impact of losing the family farm.