The personal insolvency regulator, AFSA, has announced it will increase its gender equity target in the allocation of bankrupt estates to female practitioners, via the National Panel of Trustees, from 20% to 25%.[1]
In doing this, AFSA says it is committed to “encouraging gender equity in the insolvency industry”, that is, in personal insolvency.
AFSA says it has undertaken a review of the process for offering estates via the National Panel and the existing 20% gender target. It notes that female practitioners continue to be underrepresented in personal insolvency, accounting for “just 16% of registered trustee numbers” as of May 2025.
A progress report to evaluate the effectiveness of the original changes made to the distribution of bankrupt estates to registered trustees was issued in 2022, AFSA saying it had then reached the 20% allocation, but reporting then that only around 10% of Australia’s trustees were women.[7] This had increased to 12% by 2023[8] and now 16% by May 2025.
That seems to be fair progress.
Comment
I have written much on the gender issues and have probably started to repeat myself,[2] ranging across reasons why women do not seek registration, the claimed benefits of gender as one issue in diversity, how claimed ‘feminist ideals’ of ‘inclusion, connectedness, social justice and the flattening of hierarchies’ are met in one or other of the various theories of insolvency,[3] through to gender essentialism,[4] to masculinity contests, to different skill sets that women are said to bring to the profession,[5] and, to whether women are interested in insolvency work at all.[6]
Hence comments here are limited. In the end result, gender diversity is accepted as a valid aim, AFSA saying it “is important that personal insolvency practitioners reflect the diverse community they serve” and by offering 25% of estates to female trustees, it “aims to encourage an increase in female representation…”.
With the fall in the number of bankruptcies, and the reality that over 80% are administered by the OT, numbers for female trustees are not going to be high. There is also the issue that, as AFSA reports, there is a high concentration of estates in a small number of firms. How many estates are financially remunerative is another issue, with AFSA’s last analysis showing around 30% of trustees’ estates are unfunded.
Corporate insolvency – the PJC Report
Meanwhile, in corporate insolvency there is a separate gender figure, around 10%.
The unactioned PJC Report of 2023 said that [8.26] while many other industries and professions have managed to improve their diversity, “liquidators appear to have been locked in a time capsule that was buried decades ago”. It recommended [12 8.30] that the government reform the experience eligibility requirements for liquidators, “to address the inequity of the [registration] requirements and the gender imbalance in [their] population”.
As to the current experience requirements of 4,000 hours, these “are a significant barrier to anyone with caring responsibilities. They can be changed, and they must if we are to have an insolvency profession that reflects the economy and the country that it serves”.
In the PJC acknowledging that there are “clearly broader cultural or systemic factors at play”, and looking at other diversity issues, broadening the educational and experience requirements into other disciplines may assist; for example, lawyers have high female participation rates.
While focus is given to the 4,000 hours requirement, a lawyer without accounting qualifications can be registered provided that they are suitable to be registered: s 20-20(5), thereby encouraging “greater diversity of practitioners into the field, and greater resilience of the sector”: EM to Corporations Amendment (Corporate Insolvency Reforms) Bill 2020.
ASIC will no doubt report in gender issues in due course.
New Zealand
Last, but not least, we could also look at New Zealand, where the proportion of female corporate insolvency practitioners is said to have increased to 18.5%, with 21 out of 114 accredited practitioners being women. This represents a worthwhile increase over the past six years, with the proportion of women in this field roughly doubling.[9] Experience requirements are between 1,000 and 2,000 hours.
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[1] Important changes to the National Panel
[2] Search Results for “gender” – Murrays Legal
[3] see Legal Feminism and Insolvency Theory: A Woman’s Touch? by Dr Lézelle Jacobs.[1]
[4] Joyce, Y., and Walker, S. P. (2015) Gender essentialism and occupational segregation in insolvency practice. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 40. pp. 41-60.
[5] R3 | Press, Policy & Research | R3 Blog
[6] The gender gap among Australian liquidators (2022) 22(3&4) INSLB 54 at 58, Dr P Fishman.
[7] S156A Beta Review, March 2022
[8] AFSA Chief Executive speech at the 2023 Association of Independent Insolvency Practitioners (AIIP) conference | Australian Financial Security Authority
[9] Where are the women in insolvency? | Acuity
