The ACTU welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Department’s Personal Insolvency Consultation. This submission should be read in conjunction with the ACTU’s submission (attached) to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services inquiry into corporate insolvencies in Australia.
The ACTU does not object in principle to the reforms outlined in the consultation paper insofar as they relate to personal bankruptcies which stem from personal/consumer debts and in circumstances where the individual will not be involved in future business activities.
However, the ACTU is concerned about the application of proposed reforms to personal bankruptcies that are related to: (a) a past business failure; (b) past conduct while in business; (c) operation of a future business and (d) the ability to assess fit and proper person tests.
In particular the proposal to have personal bankruptcies struck from the public record after seven years needs to be recast. In this regard this submission responds to questions 7-12.
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