SYDNEY, Australia — They charged their clients fees as they gave bad advice. They charged their clients fees for doing nothing at all. Sometimes, they kept charging the fees after their customers had died.

A royal commission appointed by the Australian government released a stinging report on Monday that criticized the country’s powerful banking and financial service industry for bilking consumers, and called for tougher regulations.

Loan officers, mortgage brokers and many others acted to line their own pockets rather than helping customers, said the report, which urged the government to rein in an industry that it said too often operated with a cavalier disregard for the welfare of the Australian people.

“The damage done by that conduct to individuals and to the overall health and reputation of the financial services industry has been large,” said Kenneth Hayne, who headed the government commission into the financial sector’s misconduct.