On 27 February 2020, the Senate referred the inquiry into the announcement, by General Motors on 17 February 2020, to withdraw the Holden brand and operations from Australia to the Education and Employment References Committee for inquiry and report by the first sitting day in May 2020.

The closing date for submissions is 20 March 2020. On 23 March in line with the new reporting date, the committee extended the deadline for submissions to 25 June 2020.

On 23 March 2020, the Senate granted the committee an extension of time to report to 12 November 2020.

On 8 October 2020, the Senate granted the committee a further extension of time to report to 10 December 2020.

On 7 October 2020, the committee resolved to investigate the regulation of the relationship between car manufacturers and car dealership models in Australia, including:

1. practices employed by manufacturers in their commercial relations with dealers, with specific focus on:
   • investment required and tenure provided
   • termination and compensation practices
   • performance requirements
   • behaviour around warranty claims and Australian Consumer Law
   • unfair terms in contracts
   • goodwill and data ownership;
2. existing legislative, regulatory and self-regulatory arrangements;
3. current and proposed government policy;
4. dispute resolution systems and penalties for breaches of the Franchising Code of Conduct;
5. current and proposed business models in selling vehicles;
6. legislative, regulatory and self-regulatory arrangements found in international markets; and
7. the imposition of restraints of trade on car dealers from car manufacturers.

On 8 October in line with the new reporting date, the committee extended the deadline for submissions. Submissions are being sought on the regulation of the relationship between car manufacturers and car dealership models with a closing date of 30 October 2020.

On 3 December 2020, the Senate granted the committee a further extension of time to report to 18 March 2021.