Helping family farming customers in financial distress

1. General principle

We commit to engaging with you in a fair, reasonable and ethical manner. We also understand that farming is subject to seasonal conditions and external events including drought.

2. Specialist team

In Lending Services, we have a specialist team of Agri bankers. We will work hard to build and maintain rapport and trust with you, understand your individual circumstances and help you find a sustainable solution to your financial difficulties.

3. Early engagement

We consider early engagement with our customers is in the best interest of all of us and will likely result in a better outcome. We will offer you the opportunity to participate in an early mediation or to engage in discussions with us within 90 days of your banking relationship being managed by our Lending Services team. This early engagement can take a number of forms, including a meeting with you and your advisors in person at your farm, or by virtual meeting, or with the assistance of an independent mediator. If a mediator is engaged, you remain entitled to seek mediation at a later date pursuant to the relevant Farm Debt Mediation schemes.

4. Valuations

Where we have charged you for a valuation, we will provide you with a copy of the valuation and the valuer instruction.

All valuations are conducted independently of loan origination to ensure independence between the valuation process and the loan approval process.

5. Not charging default interest

We will not charge default interest (or any fee in lieu of default interest) on your loan facilities if you are farming in an area that has a drought or natural disaster government declaration in force.

6. AFCA and the Banking Code of Practice

Before we participate in farm debt mediation, we will inform you of your right as an alternative, to make a complaint to AFCA. If a resolution is not achieved at farm debt mediation (or at any early mediation), we will give our consent to AFCA to consider a subsequent complaint made by you.

7. Farm debt mediation

We support a national farm debt mediation scheme and will always offer farm debt mediation to you prior to enforcement action being taken including in states and territories where there is currently no legislative scheme.

8. Enforcement action is a measure of last resort

We believe that enforcement is a measure of last resort after other reasonable options have been explored with you. In making any enforcement decisions, we will take into account whether your farm property is impacted by drought or natural disaster.