A theme of the royal commission's first day of hearings were the recurring references of commissioner Kenneth Hayne and his senior assisting counsel, Rowena Orr QC, to the narrow timeframes laid out in the terms of reference for the inquiry to investigate and report its findings.The commission has only 12 months to examine evidence and report to government on misconduct across all parts of the financial services sector.The operational challenges facing the inquiry are multi-faceted and include the most elemental tasks such as finding permanent court venues in Melbourne and other cities to conduct the hearings.Proceedings on Monday were held at a hearing room on the premises of the Fair Work Commission in central Melbourne, but the royal commission is still searching for a permanent home, according to Orr."Arrangements continue to be made to secure a hearing room from which the commission can conduct public hearings throughout the year," Orr told the hearing.Commissioner Hayne yesterday acknowledged the potential logistical challenges confronting the inquiry, hinting that the commission might be forced to conduct video hearings of oral evidence from witnesses living outside Melbourne."No final decisions have yet been made about when the commission will hold hearings in places other than Melbourne," he told the hearing."I am conscious of the fact that people affected by our work live in all states and territories of the Commonwealth."They live in cities, in towns, and in smaller communities throughout the nation."One of the many challenges that we have is to deal with that reality in ways that will further the utility of what we are required to do."Given these organisational challenges - and the gravity of the public interest issues and business reputations at stake - it seems almost inevitable that pressure will mount on the federal government to loosen the time constraints already weighing on the work of the royal commission.If there were scintillas of doubt that the royal commission was really in the national interest before yesterday, they might have been erased by Orr who revealed that the Commission has received "more than 385 submissions" from members of the public since 22 January. Financial services customers in Queensland are leading the charge, accounting for 110 of the submissions received so far. Here's the breakdown for other states:Victoria - 106NSW - 95WA - 49SA - 17TAS, NT and ACT - 10Orr told the hearing that submissions relating to banking issues accounted for 49 per cent of responses from the public. Submissions focused on superannuation accounted for about 18 per cent, while general insurance and life insurance each accounted for six per cent.While the heavy focus on banking matters might not be surprising, the fact that superannuation outweighs the insurance industry as a sector of concern to the public might have set off alarm bells at retail and industry funds across the country.The terms of reference direct the royal commission to investigate how super funds use members' money and whether existing practices meet community standards.Retail and industry superannuation providers are among the heaviest sponsors of