Review of laws governing Bankruptcy Act debt agreements

The Australian Government has called for submissions by 26 August 2011 on issues related to the functioning of the debt agreement system for personal insolvency.   It says that three key issues  need to be resolved:

1. The registration of deed agreement administrators
2. The remuneration of deed agreement administrators
3. Access to debt agreements

The following headings, sub-headings and questions appear in the paper.  Several options are given and consultation questions raised.

1. The regulation of administrators

•  ITSA’s powers to deal with potential maladministration

• Duties of administrators 

• The registration of administrators

• The qualifications of registered administrators 

• Unregistered administrators 

• ITSA’s powers to investigate potential misuse of client monies by unregistered administrators

• Advertising by administrators

• The provision of advice by unregulated entities

• Insurance requirements for administrators

 2. Remuneration of administrators

• The structure of the administrator market

• Remuneration of administrators

• What fees do administrators charge in practice?

•  What effect does the level of fees have on acceptance rates?

• Should administrator fees be regulated?

• Increasing the information available to debtors

•  Expenses recovered by administrators

 3. Access to debt agreements

• How high should the thresholds be?

•  How long should former bankrupts be barred from proposing a debt agreement?

4. International models: additional options for debtors

For a copy of the Government consultation paper in PDF format, click HERE.  To get the MS Word format click HERE.

Note from Attorney General re Submissions

Interested parties are invited to comment on the paper. While submissions may be lodged electronically or by post, electronic lodgement is preferred. For accessibility reasons, please submit responses sent via email in a Word or RTF format. An additional PDF version may also be submitted. All information (including name and address details) contained in submissions will be made available to the public on the Attorney-General’s website unless you indicate that you would like all or part of your submission to remain in confidence. Automatically generated confidentiality statements in emails do not suffice for this purpose. Respondents who would like part of their submission to remain in confidence should provide this information marked as such in a separate attachment. Legal requirements, such as those imposed by the Freedom of Information Act 1982, may affect the confidentiality of your submission. Please send written comments by close of business 26 August 2011 to:

Assistant Secretary

Business Law Branch

Civil Law Division

Attorney-General’s Department

Robert Garran Offices

3-5 National Cct

BARTON ACT 2600

or by email to bankruptcy@ag.gov.au.