Consumer insolvency in Australia
Article
Article Title | Consumer insolvency in Australia |
---|---|
ERA Journal ID | 37165 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Duns, John (Author) and Mason, Rosalind (Author) |
Journal Title | International Insolvency Review: journal of the international association of insolvency professionals |
Journal Citation | 10 (3), pp. 195-228 |
Number of Pages | 34 |
Year | 2001 |
Place of Publication | Bognor Regis, West Sussex. United Kingdom |
ISSN | 1099-1107 |
1180-0518 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1002/iir.94 |
Web Address (URL) | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/iir.94/abstract |
Abstract | This paper seeks to identify and assess the features of Australian bankruptcy regulation as they apply to consumer insolvency. Although Australian bankruptcy law makes no explicit recognition of 'consumer bankruptcy' as a regulatory target in itself, the Australian legislation nevertheless has a number of features that impact on what would generally be seen to be consumer bankrupts. After providing an outline of the legislative framework within which consumer bankruptcy operates, the paper examines the consumer insolvency aspects of this legislation, together with an assessment of proposed reforms. Some brief comparisons of the ‘consumer’ features of Australian regulation with that of the more fully developed consumer provisions of the Canadian and the United States bankruptcy legislation, are made in order to highlight the Australian position. The Australian Act has historically drawn heavily on English bankruptcy legislation but inevitably Australia has to some extent developed along its own path. Notable is the reasonably vigorous approach to discharge from bankruptcy. The proposed reforms to the Bankruptcy Act, which have followed a detailed consultative process, are largely directed to consumer debtors. Some of these reforms are directed against a perceived debtor abuse of the bankruptcy system. Other reforms, such as increasing the availability of debt agreements, are more generous to insolvent debtors. On the whole the reforms appear to be based more on political than empirical grounds. |
Keywords | law reform; bankruptcy; legislation |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 440709. Public policy |
350208. Investment and risk management | |
480699. Private law and civil obligations not elsewhere classified | |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | Monash University |
School of Law | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q063y/consumer-insolvency-in-australia
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