The Queensland Parliament has passed the Farm Business Debt Mediation Bill 2016. Background.

The new law provides a formal process for mediation between farmers in financial hardship and banks to resolve the issue of mounting debt in a manner that provides the best possible outcome for all parties.

The Bill was aimed at ensuring mediation was provided to farmers carrying significant business debt and facing having to walk away from their properties.

The Bill include the ability for the parties to draft and vary the heads of agreement and to waive the cooling off period if they wished the terms of an agreement to come into effect immediately.

These laws also allow for a farmer to have more than one adviser present at a mediation and ensure that mediations take place at a venue convenient to the farmer.

A farmer and bank will be able to participate in the process again if it does not include the same debt.