Law reform
Bankruptcy numbers; bankruptcy reform
The numbers of personal insolvencies in 2025-2026 (13,465) have increased from those in 2024-25 (12,257) but they still remain low, ...
Business reporting requirements – Productivity Commission inquiry
The government has asked that the Productivity Commission to undertake an inquiry into opportunities to improve the efficiency and value ...
Who is to operate and fund insolvencies?
A threshold issue in relation to the design and operation of any insolvency regime is as to who operates it ...
Government delays in responding to law reform reports
The delay in the federal government responding to the 2023 PJC Report on Corporate Insolvency until now, over 3 years ...
Insolvency law reform – now patiently awaiting the Productivity Commission
Despite government responses to parliamentary committee reports being required within three months we now have a government response to the ...
Association of Independent Insolvency Practitioners – annual conference 2026
I was pleased to have been invited to contribute at two sessions at the AIIP annual conference in Canberra on ...
“Bankruptcy on a Budget” – what’s going on in the Netherlands is relevant here
An interesting article on Dutch bankruptcy law by respected insolvency academic Dr Jessie Pool[1] at Leiden University, and what she ...
Legislative evidence of a barrier to business dynamism – s 588GAAC?
There must be some irony in the government asking the Productivity Commission, on the one hand, to inquire into “barriers ...
Anti-money laundering guidance for insolvency practitioners …
How designated services apply to insolvency practitioners | AUSTRAC This guidance from AUSTRAC explains how Anti-Money Laundering obligations under the ...
Australian Productivity
Interesting comments from our Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood are going the rounds about our low economic productivity, with Australians’ ...
Insolvency aspects of the Productivity Commission’s Business Dynamism Inquiry
In its inquiry into barriers to business dynamism, the Productivity Commission has now called for submissions on a range of ...
Coercive control claim in a bankruptcy
A woman made bankrupt in 2022 was unsuccessful in having her bankruptcy annulled under s 153B of the Bankruptcy Act ...
A productivity focused insolvency inquiry
The government has referred a productivity inquiry to the Productivity Commission – Regulatory barriers to business dynamism, one factor to ...
Insolvency law reform – some views
With the 3 year anniversary of Australia’s 2023 Parliamentary Joint Committee Report on Corporate Insolvency coming up,[1] and with the ...
Shedding light on the dark side of insolvency practice
The Assistant Treasury Minister Dr Andrew Leigh has given support for the need to have good data to inform and ...
Australia, ambitious?
The Ambitious Australia: Strategic Examination of Research and Development final report of 17 March 2026 promotes the need for greater ...
The history of innovation, excluding the Hills Hoist
I was pleased to have attended the launch of The shortest history of innovation by Dr Andrew Leigh MP at ...
Corporate mergers, acquisitions etc and restructuring – need to notify ACCC
ARITA, TMA [1] and others in the business restructuring field have protested about the impact of the new merger laws ...
Personal business liabilities and the World Bank’s B-Ready review of our insolvency laws
The World Bank’s B-Ready review process will be applied this year, 2026, to Australia’s business laws, including “business insolvency”, according ...
“Small business” insolvency data
The regular insolvency statistics were released by ASIC (corporate) and AFSA (personal) at the end of 2025 but with a ...
Combatting financial abuse perpetrated through coerced directorships
Moving from its militaristic combatting phoenix activity, the government is now going to crack down and combat financial abuse perpetrated ...
An outline of arguments supporting a combined personal and corporate insolvency regime for small business
This explains our law reform project seeking to have a combined regime for personal and corporate insolvency for small corporate ...
“Who’s making us bankrupt?” or “what are debtors doing about it?”
Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) has called for “urgent” reforms to Australia’s bankruptcy laws after releasing its report, “Who’s Making Australians Bankrupt? ...
Who owns, and owes, what in a typical incorporated small business?
The regular insolvency statistics have been released by ASIC (corporate) and AFSA (personal), but with a current focus on insolvency ...