The Farm Business Debt Mediation Bill 2016 (Qld) (FBDM
Bill) was passed by the Queensland Parliament on 21 March 2017,
with the legislation coming into effect on 1 July 2017. Partner
Catherine Wheeler and Law Graduate Emma
Scotney assess the implications for lenders and farmers in
Queensland, and examine Western Australia's farm debt mediation
regime in light of this new legislation.
The Australian Farm Debt landscape
More than 95 percent or farms in the broadacre sector are family
owned and as such, debt is an important source of funds for working
capital and investment.1 Nationally, average broadacre
debt more than doubled from 2000-01 to 2015-16 - mainly due to an
increase in the average size of Australian farms.2 Total
rural debt increased to 69.5 billion as at September
2016.3 Bank lending accounted for approximately 95
percent of the total institutional lending.4 It is
against this backdrop that the Queensland Parliament passed the
FBDM Bill late last month.
