Kerensa Sneyd, Partner, Allens; David Carter, Partner, Dentons; Urszula McCormack, Partner, Mallesons & Antonia Garling, Partner Sydney, Gilbert & Tobin

Credit decisions are increasingly made with machine assistance, customer data is moving under reformed privacy rules and an expanding Consumer Data Right, and the question of who answers when technology gets it wrong is no longer hypothetical.

This panel brings together senior legal practitioners to map what's ahead for lenders across four fronts: whether responsible lending obligations can keep pace with AI-driven assessment and decisioning; who owns and controls customer data as privacy reform, Open Finance and digital identity converge; the next regulatory issue that should be on a CEO's radar, from design and distribution obligations to scam and fraud reform to enforcement trends; and — the question boards are now asking — where liability sits when an automated decision or a technology failure causes customer harm.

For directors and executives, the practical thread runs through all four: bias, explainability and accountability in automated decisions; oversight of third-party, cloud and technology dependencies; operational resilience; and whether "we didn't know" remains a defensible position.