The authors report the results of an empirical study of the use of debt agreements in Australian personal insolvency law. Debt agreements were introduced into Australian personal insolvency law in 1996 as an alternative to bankruptcy. This alternative has become increasingly popular, and in 2010...

In 2014, a group of researchers at Melbourne Law School commenced a major empirical research project, focussing on Australia's personal insolvency laws and their practical impact on people in financial distress. As part of the project, in early 2015, the research team conducted a national online...

This article compares reforms to directors' liability for insolvent trading in Singapore and in Australia. The authors analyse the law in these two countries because they are important Asia-Pacific trading partners and their laws were originally largely the same – Singapore's law on insolvent...

Bankruptcy is widely regarded as a means of rehabilitation for debtors in severe financial hardship. To date, however, there have been few attempts to study its long term impact on individuals' finances, health, social relationships and general quality of life. The authors address this gap in...

This paper examines recent trends in Australian personal bankruptcy by analysing a large data set obtained from the regulator, the Australian Financial Security Authority. It demonstrates a marked decline in Australian bankruptcy rates, since a peak in 2009, and a consistent rise in levels of...

This study is the first empirically based analysis of business bankruptcy to be conducted in Australia. It aims to identify key differences between debtors who declare business bankruptcy and those who declare non-business or “personal” bankruptcy, and to explore the extent to which there...

While the majority of those who declare bankruptcy do so voluntarily, a significant proportion are forced into bankruptcy as a result of legal action. This paper interrogates data obtained from the Australian Financial Security Authority to explore the attributes of debtors who go bankrupt...

This article presents the results of the first empirical study focused on older Australians in bankruptcy. Our study — based on the examination of a large and unique dataset obtained by the authors from the bankruptcy regulator — provides a valuable insight into the severe financial...

According to data published by the Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA), Australian women and men offer strikingly similar reasons for their entry into bankruptcy. Yet a more detailed analysis of AFSA's data indicates that women and men often go bankrupt in very different social and...

In May 2015 the Productivity Commission released its Draft Report ‘Business Set-up, Transfer and Closure'. This research note does not deal with the broad range of issues touched on by the Productivity Commission. Instead, it concentrates on those matters relating to corporate insolvency and...