Law reform

Abolition of the AAT, and its insolvency law matters

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal is to be abolished we are told and replaced by a new administrative law review body ...

Insolvent assetless MSMEs – all but forgotten?

My commentary of October 2020 is re-issued, for readers’ interest.  Does it matter that a company is insolvent such that ...

Rethinking Insolvency Practitioner Remuneration – Insolvency Law Bulletin

Had the decision in Re HRL Limited (in liq) [2022] VSC 693, allowing a “success fee” on insolvency practitioner (IP) ...

The latest Insolvency Law Bulletin – remuneration, trading trusts, financial product collapses, gender, and more

In the latest issue of the Insolvency Law Bulletin, we have an article on a simpler solution to insolvent trading ...

What is it about bankruptcy?

It was November 2015 that the then government announced a proposed reduction in the period of restrictions of bankruptcy to ...

TIP – The Insolvency Portal

My 2022 versions of the Bankruptcy Act and the Corporations Act retain much of the process and procedure found in ...

PJC insolvency inquiry – deregistered companies submission

An early submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee inquiry into corporate insolvency from Mr Russell Morgan, liquidator, of 15 November ...

A productive insolvency regime – who knows?

In the various calls for a holistic review of Australian insolvency law, there is little explanation of what exactly needs ...

The Parliamentary Joint Committee and “small business insolvency”

The terms of reference of the current PJC inquiry into corporate insolvency refer at times to small business but given ...

NSW clubs and their insolvency appointments

The NSW Registered Clubs Act 1976 has a quaint provision – s 41 – providing that an insolvency appointee such ...

The several inquiries into ASIC

There are now several government inquiries into ASIC, directly or indirectly, perhaps indicating either the breadth of ASIC’s remit, or ...

Australia’s review of its corporate insolvency laws – updated

The hearing in relation to the law of set-off and insolvency in Metal Manufacturers Pty Limited Gavin Morton as liquidator ...

Initial industry views on the parliamentary joint committee on corporate insolvency

While submissions to the parliamentary joint committee on corporate insolvency are not due until 30 November 2022, some indication of ...

Ownership is sometimes but not always as it seems – presumptions for, presumptions against, and evidence

A ‘wife’ has succeeded before the High Court in preventing the ATO claiming what it argued was her husband’s interest ...

Insolvency law ministers – personal, corporate, Indigenous, cross-border, employment and more

Relevant federal ministers whose portfolios involve insolvency law are primarily Mr Mark Dreyfuss QC as Attorney-General, Dr Jim Chalmers as ...

Oversight of deregistered companies

Company deregistrations for failure to return statutory forms and pay fees have increased from nearly five times the number of ...

One small business restructuring practitioner

Reforms to corporate insolvency laws commenced on 1 January 2021 to assist companies with liabilities less than $1 million. These ...

Try to resolve unpaid debt early, and leave insolvency as a “last resort”

Each of AFSA, ARITA and Financial Counselling Australia has issued a statement calling for better processes for resolution of claims ...

Define “insolvency” – legislative drafting continued

In bills before the new 2022 parliament, our legislative drafters have continued with their consistent approach in relying upon 19th ...

Class actions and litigation funding – New Zealand law reform report

While Australia is in the midst of some potential change in the law about litigation funding,[1] the New Zealand Law ...

Insolvency practitioner remuneration revisited

International Insolvency Research Symposium.M Murray.RemunerationRevisited July 2022 – final This is a paper I gave at the recent International Insolvency ...

Insolvency law reform – conference paper

This is the paper given by Professor Jason Harris and myself at the Society of Corporate Law Academics (SCOLA) conference ...

Who should pay for the costs of the administration of an insolvency?

A debtor in Australia pays no fee to have themselves made voluntarily bankrupt. If that does not seem odd, then ...

Personal insolvency law and policy under the new Labor government in Australia

With the Attorney-General Mr Mark Dreyfus QC in the process of picking up police and other responsibilities from the disbanded ...