Annual administration statistics

This publication provides annual information on a financial year basis on the administration of personal insolvencies.

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Bankruptcies

Bankruptcies by debtor’s petition and sequestration order

In 2022–23, 91% of new bankruptcies were by debtors’ petition (voluntary bankruptcies). This proportion kept the same value in 2021–22. The remaining 9% of new bankruptcies in 2022–23 were by sequestration order (bankruptcies initiated by creditors).

Table: Debtor’s petitions and sequestration orders by state and territory, 2021–22 and 2022–23
State or territory Number of bankruptcies by debtors’ petition Number of bankruptcies by sequestration order
2021–22 2022–23 2021–22 2022–23

NSW

1,622

2,093

252

251

ACT

60

46

7

3

Vic

847

800

138

112

Qld

1,634

1,341

104

69

SA

352

342

17

17

NT

31

28

2

4

WA

616

437

31

30

Tas

172

179

1

4

Total

5,334

5,266

552

490

Note: Debtor’s petitions include insolvent deceased estates.

Sequestration order lodgement of statement of affairs

There were 4,887 people who were bankrupt by sequestration order but had not submitted a statement of affairs. Of these, 86% became bankrupt at least 5 years ago.

Table: Sequestration order bankruptcies without a statement of affair, 2022–23
Number of years since been made bankrupt by sequestration order Number of bankrupts who have not lodged a statement of affairs

Less than one year

96

One year

160

Two years

113

Three years

101

Four years

197

Five to ten years

1,047

More than ten years

3,173

Total

4,887

Annulments

Section 74 annulments occur when creditors accept a composition or arrangement to settle debts. In 2022–23, there were 73 section 74 annulments.

Section 153A annulments occur when a bankrupt pays all his or her debts in full. In 2022–23, there were 257 section 153A annulments.

Section 153B annulments occur when a bankrupt successfully applies to the court for an order annulling his or her bankruptcy. In 2022–23, there was 2 section 153B annulments. 

Table: Number of bankruptcy annulments, 2021–22 and 2022–23
Type of annulment Number of annulments
 2021–22 2022–23

Notices (s.74(5A))

84

73

Certificates (s.153A)

250

257

Applications (s.153B) to Federal Court with a result of granted

1

2

Objections to discharge

Consistent with previous years, most objections to discharge extended bankruptcy to eight years in 2022–23. There were 18 objections to discharge extending bankruptcy by 5 years, and 323 objections to discharge extending bankruptcy to 8 years.

Table: Number of objections to discharge, 2021–22 and 2022–23
Objections filed by: Number of objections extending bankruptcy to 5 years Number of objections extending bankruptcy to 8 years
2021–22 2022–23 2021–22 2022–23

Official Trustee

2

2

422

29

Registered trustees

18

16

421

294

Total

20

18

843

323

Contributions and dividends

In 2022–23, trustees (including the Official Trustee and Registered Trustees) administered more than $31 million in contributions from 2,696 bankruptcies. This includes voluntary contributions.

Trustees declared and paid dividends in 1,320 bankruptcies in 2022–23. These dividends returned more than $64 million to creditors.

Table: Income contributions and dividends by OT and registered trustees, 2022–23
  Administered by the Official Trustee Administered by registered trustees

Number of bankruptcies in which contributions were paid*

251

2,445

Value of contributions ($)*

$1,161,391

$30,018,295

Number of bankruptcies in which dividends (interim and final) were declared and paid

434

886

Value of dividends ($)

$7,600,189

$56,791,934

* Includes voluntary contributions.

Rate of return

There were 8,019 bankrupt estates finalised in 2022–23. Unsecured creditors received an average of 2.19 cents for every dollar they were owed.

The following table shows the average rate of return in bankrupt estates. An insolvency proceeding is reported as one administration regardless of whether there are multiple debtors. Each partner in the insolvency proceeding has an estate.

Table: Bankruptcy rate of return by OT and registered trustees, 2022–23
  Official Trustee Registered trustees Total

Number of estates finalised during the year

5,400

2,619

8,019

Number of finalised estates that have paid a dividend

457

770

1,227

Percentage of finalised estates that have paid a dividend

8.46%

29.40%

15.30%

Average rate of return for unsecured creditors in dividend paying estates (cents per dollar)

7.78

10.83

10.04

Average rate of return for unsecured creditors in all finalised estates (cents per dollar)

1.27

2.68

2.19

Debt agreements

Debt agreement proposal status

The Official Receiver received 5,276 debt agreement proposals in 2022–23. Of these proposals, 89% reached the voting deadline. On 30 June 2023, creditors had accepted 4,117 of the debt agreement proposals lodged during the year.

We report figures based on the date of lodgement of debt agreement proposals. These tables may not reconcile with figures provided in other tables or other publications.

Table: Debt agreement proposal statuses, 2018–19 to 2022–23
Debt agreement proposal activity 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23

Debt agreement proposals received

13,579

9,461

4,488

4,250

5,276

Proposals rejected by Official Receiver

565

539

337

288

470

Proposals accepted by Official Receiver for creditor vote

12,992

8,908

4,143

3,960

4,800

Proposals cancelled by Official Receiver during voting period

448

288

133

113

115

Number of proposals reaching voting deadline

12,544

8,620

4,010

3,847

4,685

Number rejected by creditors or no vote received

1,047

1,304

525

454

568

Number of new agreements made (accepted by creditors)

11,497

7,316

3,485

3,393

4,117

Note: Due to changes in processing timings, systems changes and delays in status updates, these tables may not reconcile fully. We released the debt agreements online service in January 2018.

Outcome of proposals that reached voting deadline

As at 30 June 2023, creditors accepted 4,117 debt agreement proposals in 2022–23 that reached the voting deadline.

This table shows a progressive summary of the outcome of debt agreement proposals that reached the voting deadline as at 30 June 2023. We report these figures based on the date of lodgement of debt agreement proposals. These tables may not reconcile with figures provided in other tables.

Table: Voting outcome of debt agreement proposals, 2018–19 to 2022–23
Voting outcome activity 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23

Reached voting deadline

12,544

8,620

4,010

3,847

4,685

Rejected by creditors or no vote received

1,047

1,304

525

454

568*

Accepted by creditors (new debt agreements)

11,497

7,316

3,485

3,393

4,117

* The voting period for creditors to vote on whether to accept a debt agreement proposal is generally five weeks. If we do not know the vote result on 30 June 2022, we report the outcome as ‘rejected by creditors or no vote received’. 

Note: Due to changes in processing timings, systems changes and delays in status updates, these tables may not reconcile fully. We released the debt agreements online service in January 2018.

Debt agreement status

There were 20,305 debt agreements not yet completed on 30 June 2023. In 2022–23, 14,321 debt agreements were completed or terminated:

  • 12,729 debt agreements completed
  • 203 terminated by creditors
  • 1,389 terminated by six month arrears default.
Table: Debt agreement status by state or territory, 2022–23
State or territory Number of agreements not yet completed
at 1 July 2022
Number of new agreements made
in 2022–23
Number of agreements completed
in 2022–23
Number of agreements terminated by creditors in 2022–23 Number of agreements terminated
by 6 month arrears default in 2022–23
Number of agreements not yet completed
at 30 June 2023

NSW

9,442 1,186 3,874 67 498 6,189

ACT

415 48 176 2 19

266

Vic

5,434 733 2,305 39 223 3,600

Qld

9,041 1,222 3,765 36 407 6,055

SA

1,552 203 598 13 60 1,084

NT

407 62 165 2 25 277

WA

3,697 362 1,604 34 118 2,304

Tas

695 126 242 10 39 530

Total

30,683

3,942

12,729

203

1,389

20,305

Note: Due to changes in processing timings, systems changes and delays in status updates, these tables may not reconcile fully. We released the debt agreements online service in January 2018.

Outcome of new debt agreements

On 30 June 2023, 45% of debt agreements lodged in 2018–19 were still active. As debt agreements run their course, this proportion becomes progressively higher for past years.

This table shows a progressive summary of the outcome of new debt agreements as at 30 June 2023. We report these figures based on the date of lodgement of debt agreement proposals. These tables may not reconcile with figures provided in other tables.

Table: Debt agreement outcomes, 2018–19 to 2022–23
Debt agreement activity 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23

Terminated by creditors/court

441

161

73

48

15

Terminated by six-month arrears default

1,396

793

355

287

92

Agreements completed

4,507

4,980

922

166

19

Agreements not yet completed

5,153

1,382

2,135

2,895

3,991

Note: Due to changes in processing timings, systems changes and delays in status updates, these tables may not reconcile fully. We released the debt agreements online service in January 2018.

Estimate rate of dividends

The most common estimated rate of dividend in a debt agreement proposal in 2022–23 was between 41 and 50 cents per dollar owed, 88% of these proposals became debt agreements.

Table: Debt agreement estimated rate of dividend, 2022–23
Estimated rate of dividend (cents per dollar) Number of debt agreement proposals accepted by the Official Receiver Number of debt agreements made Proportion of debt agreement proposals that became debt agreements

Less than 31 cents

476

324

68.1%

31–40 cents

1,100

923

83.9%

41–50 cents

1,749

1,531

87.5%

51–60 cents

662

585

88.4%

61–70 cents

474

427

90.1%

71–80 cents

131

125

95.4%

81 cents or more

29

27

93.1%

Total

4,621

3,942

85.3%

Dividends paid in completed debt agreements

Creditors received an average of 51.74 cents per dollar owed in debt agreements completed in 2022–23.

Table: Dividends paid in completed debt agreements by state or territory, 2022–23
State or territory Number of debt agreements finalised Value of creditor claims ($) Value of dividends paid ($) Rate of return (cents per dollar)

NSW

3,832

$139,488,717

$71,547,171

51.29

ACT

175

$6,916,581

$3,693,040

53.39

Vic

2,280

$84,915,738

$43,662,753

54.28

Qld

3,014

$109,682,097

$60,915,888

52.49

SA

588

$21,526,988

$11,063,417

51.39

NT

163

$6,457,533

$3,347,512

51.84

WA

1,593

$65,394,808

$33,598,380

51.38

Tas

238

$8,507,595

$4,496,281

52.85

Total

12,571

$464,505,833

$240,329,204

51.74

Temporary debt protections

Temporary debt protections

In 2022–23, 238 temporary debt protections were accepted, an increase of 15% from 2021–22. New South Wales and Queensland had the highest numbers of temporary debt protections accepted in 2022–23.

State or territory Number of temporary debt protections accepted
2021–22 2022–23

NSW

75

108

ACT

0

2

Vic

29

35

Qld

60

50

SA

11

12

NT

2

1

WA

20

21

Tas

10

9

Total

207

238

Personal insolvency agreements

Rate of return

There were 238 personal insolvency agreement estates finalised in 2022–23 by registered trustees. Unsecured creditors received an average of 10.36 cents for every dollar they were owed. There were no personal insolvency agreement estates finalised by the Official Trustee in 2022–23. The Official Trustee only administers personal insolvency agreements when a registered trustee resigns, is deregistered or dies.

The following table shows the average rate of return in personal insolvency agreement estates. An insolvency proceeding is reported as one administration regardless of whether there are multiple debtors. Each partner in the insolvency proceeding has an estate.

Table: Rate of return for personal insolvency agreements, 2022–23
Activity Registered trustees

Number of estates finalised during the year

238

Number of finalised estates that have paid a dividend

199

Percentage of finalised estates that have paid a dividend

83.61%

Average rate of return for unsecured creditors in dividend paying estates (cents per dollar)

12.70

Average rate of return for unsecured creditors in all finalised estates (cents per dollar)

10.36

Practitioner administration

Trustees administering new bankruptcies

The Official Trustee administers most new bankruptcies. In 2022–23, the Official Trustee administered 76% of bankruptcies. This is the same value with 76% in 2021–22.

Table: Bankruptcies administered by OT and registered trustees by state or territory, 2021–22 and 2022–23
State or territory Number of bankruptcies administered by the Official Trustee Number of bankruptcies administered by registered trustees
2021–22 2022–23 2021–22 2022–23

NSW

1,382

1,697

492

647

ACT

48

36

19

13

Vic

677

677

308

235

Qld

1,394

1,133

344

277

SA

316

306

53

53

NT

23

22

10

10

WA

474

320

173

147

Tas

159

161

14

22

Total

4,473

4,352

1,413

1,404

Monies administered under Parts IV and XI

Official Trustee

The Official Trustee administered more than $21 million in receipts in 2022–23. Asset sales accounted for 80% of these receipts. 

The Official Trustee administered nearly $32 million in payments in 2022–23. Dividends and secured creditor payments accounted for 40% of these payments.

Table: Total receipts and payments for bankruptcies by OT, 2021–22 and 2022–23
State or territory Total receipts Total payments
2021–22 2022–23 2021–22 2022–23

NSW

$14,100,488 $6,493,516 $11,680,295 $9,493,789

ACT

$615,452 $192,934 $819,977 $258,968

Vic

$7,794,715 $2,319,789 $7,747,972 $4,643,434

Qld

$14,159,935 $6,982,972 $13,726,358 $9,496,820

SA

$3,975,644 $2,186,070 $4,101,570 $2,995,324

NT

$987,779 $732,296 $876,469 $995,377

WA

$6,922,370 $2,079,919 $7,414,699 $3,442,496

Tas

$1,439,646 $301,950 $1,773,544 $553,206

Total

$49,996,028

$21,289,445

$48,140,884

$31,879,413

Registered trustees

Registered trustees administered more than $290 million in receipts in 2022–23. Asset sales accounted for 55% of these receipts.

Registered trustees administered more than $287 million in payments in 2022–23. Trustee fees accounted for 28% of these payments, and secured creditor payments accounted for another 24%.

Table: Total receipts and payments for bankruptcies by registered trustees, 2021–22 and 2022–23
State or territory Total receipts Total payments
2021–22 2022–23 2021–22 2022–23

NSW

$124,594,007 $108,196,240 $114,193,354 $108,753,342

ACT

$2,620,046 $1,824,414 $2,627,638 $1,772,768

Vic

$48,144,243 $62,007,722 $46,169,345 $60,275,738

Qld

$61,529,260 $53,969,867 $54,670,185 $56,854,194

SA

$14,025,855 $16,400,611 $14,001,220 $16,333,247

NT

$1,936,112 $2,143,734 $1,924,795 $2,385,299

WA

$32,969,064 $40,995,949 $30,553,893 $36,845,716

Tas

$3,882,049 $4,934,221 $3,858,095 $3,841,521

Total

$289,700,637

$290,472,758

$267,998,525

$287,061,825

Monies administered under Part IX

In 2022–23, practitioners administered more than $157 million in receipts and nearly $163 million in payments. Dividends accounted for 72% of these payments.

Table: Total receipts and payments for debt agreements by registered debt agreement administrators, 2021–22 and 2022–23
State or territory Total receipts Total payments
2021–22 2022–23 2021–22 2022–23

NSW

$68,876,192 $47,340,285 $69,913,769 $48,907,722

ACT

$3,584,833 $2,179,957 $3,700,890 $2,257,578

Vic

$42,732,473 $27,820,148 $43,579,067 $28,888,626

Qld

$65,712,517 $45,319,061 $67,013,692 $46,641,175

SA

$11,326,810 $7,784,474 $11,572,734 $7,945,323

NT

$3,086,741 $2,220,046 $3,133,664 $2,317,198

WA

$30,672,984 $21,572,421 $31,365,667 $22,519,927

Tas

$4,989,947 $3,425,365 $5,064,733 $3,521,622

Total

$230,982,498

$157,661,757

$235,344,217

$162,999,171

Monies administered under Part X

Official Trustee

In 2021–22, the Official Trustee administered no payments and no receipts. The Official Trustee only administers personal insolvency agreements when a registered trustee resigns, is deregistered or dies. The Official Trustee reconstructs the accounts and reviews all material in the previous trustee’s file. As a result, there can be a delay while the Official Trustee reconciles payments made prior to the Official Trustee’s appointment.

Registered trustees

Registered trustees administered more than $21 million in receipts in 2022–23. Income contributions accounted for 9% of these receipts.

Registered trustees administered more than $20 million in payments in 2022–23. Dividends accounted for 42% of these payments, and trustee fee payments accounted for another 19%.

Table: Total receipts and payments for personal insolvency agreements by registered trustees, 2021–22 and 2022–23
State or territory Total receipts Total payments
2021–22 2022–23 2021–22 2022–23

NSW

$5,773,565 $5,634,572 $5,250,872 $4,383,741

ACT

$720,570 $262,959 $973,759 $437,122

Vic

$2,679,639 $4,933,784 $2,217,272 $5,218,800

Qld

$4,479,954 $4,593,836 $4,227,238 $5,039,976

SA

$1,167,684 $816,319 $956,679 $884,669

NT

$81,027 $203,888 $441,875 $166,346

WA

$2,460,103 $4,894,928 $2,137,505 $4,539,966

Tas

$115,887 $141,009 $117,520 $158,834

Total

$17,478,429

$21,481,295

$16,322,720

$20,829,453

How we help trustees

Official Receiver notices

Official Receiver notices help trustees to gather information or recover assets. The Official Receiver issued 631 notices in 2022–23. The most common type of notice is s. 77CA obtain statement of affairs (34% of total notices in 2022–23).

Section of the Bankruptcy Act Type of statutory notice Number of notices issued
2021–22 2022–23
s. 77AA Access by Official Receiver and others to premises

1

4

s. 77C Obtain information and evidence

194

173

s. 77CA Obtain statement of affairs

225

217

s. 81A Offshore information notices

1

1

s. 128E Freeze interest in super

2

2

s. 139ZQ Notice requiring payment following void transaction

54

42

s. 139ZL Payment of contribution liability

190

183

s. 139ZR Charge over property

3

7

s. 139ZN Certificate to charge over property

0

2

Total  

970

631

Commonwealth funding assistance

Section 305 of the Bankruptcy Act allows the Commonwealth to underwrite the cost of proceedings or enquiries about the estate or the examinable affairs of a bankrupt or personal insolvency agreement debtor. 

In 2022–23, there were 8 applications for Commonwealth funding assistance approved, with $120,950 underwritten.

Table: Commonwealth funding assistance application activity, 2021–22 and 2022–23
Activity 2021–22 2022–23

Number of applications received

11

15

Number of applications approved*

12

8

Amount underwritten ($)

$42,905 $120,950

Expenditure ($)

$12,601 $58,154

* These figures include all applications approved in the financial year, irrespective of whether they were lodged in that year.

Guide

Annual administration statistics

Data collection and coverage

We administer and regulate Australia’s personal insolvency system. We record all personal insolvency proceedings that occur under the Bankruptcy Act.

As the Official Trustee in Bankruptcy, we administer bankruptcies and personal insolvency agreements. We use information from this process to produce the Official Trustee statistics.

Registered trustees, controlling trustees and debt agreement administrators administer most personal insolvencies. We collect information from these practitioners through the annual estate return process. We use this information to produce the registered trustee statistics.

We have no information on the rate of return of debt agreements administered by practitioners who do not lodge annual administration returns.

Location

We report many of the tables in this publication based on states and territories. When possible, we report our statistics based on the state of residence provided on the statement of affairs form. Every debtor is required to lodge a completed statement of affairs form with us.

When a bankruptcy is the result of a sequestration order, we record the debtors address supplied by the court. We update this address when the bankrupt lodges a statement of affairs.

We check that all addresses of debtors are valid addresses.

How we help trustees

Commonwealth funding assistance pursuant to section 305

Section 305 of the Bankruptcy Act allows the Minister (currently the Attorney-General), on the application of the trustee of a bankrupt estate or of a personal insolvency agreement, to direct, in an appropriate case, that the Commonwealth underwrite the cost of proceedings or enquiries about the estate or the examinable affairs of the bankrupt or debtor.

The Minister has delegated the power to make a direction under section 305 to senior AFSA officials. In exercising their discretion under section 305, the delegates have regard to the following guidelines approved by the Attorney-General in March 2005.

Funding may be approved where:

  1. either:
    1. the trustee has reasonable prospects of a successful outcome in proceedings initiated, or proposed to be initiated, by the trustee in the court or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; or
    2. the trustee should defend an application for a review of a decision by the trustee in the court or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; or
    3. a party other than the bankrupt has instituted proceedings in the court or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal that the trustee should defend;
      and the creditors have insufficient financial resources to put the trustee in funds or to indemnify the trustee against an award of costs; or
  2. the actions of the bankrupt or debtor give rise to the inference that the bankrupt or debtor is intentionally breaching their obligations or duties under the Act; or
  3. a significant question of law has arisen that requires resolution.

Funding will ordinarily not be approved for instituting proceedings unless:

  1. the trustee has approached creditors to provide cash advances or indemnities in respect of costs, or exhausted alternative opportunities for litigation funding (generally funding will not be provided merely on the basis that creditors have refused to provide cash or indemnities); and
  2. the delegate is satisfied that undertaking the litigation is consistent with the Performance Standards for Trustees in Division 42 of the Insolvency Practice Rules (Bankruptcy) 2016, particularly in relation to the standards in sections 42-40 and 42-60 of those Rules concerning the realisation of assets and incurring only necessary and reasonable costs; and
  3. the delegate is satisfied that it would be appropriate for the trustee to commence the litigation.

Ending bankruptcies

Objections to discharge

Section 149 of the Bankruptcy Act provides that, in the ordinary course of events, a bankrupt is automatically discharged from bankruptcy three years and one day after the date on which they file their statement of affairs. Section 149A extends the period of a person’s bankruptcy to five or eight years in circumstances where an objection to discharge has been lodged by the trustee. Section 149D sets out the grounds on which a trustee can lodge an objection.

Our statistics show the number of objections to discharge lodged in the financial year. If a court order grants an annulment, we exclude it from our statistics. A debtor can have multiple objections lodged against them. Our statistics count each of these objections. For example, if a trustee lodges five objections to discharge in relation to the same debtor, we report five objections.

Annulments

A bankruptcy ends by either discharge or an annulment. There are several types of annulments:

  • Section 74—a bankrupt can propose a composition or scheme of arrangement for settlement of all of their debts with their creditors. If it is accepted by creditors (a majority in number and at least 75% in value of the creditors voting), the bankruptcy is immediately annulled.
  • Section 153A—a bankrupt can pay all of their debts in full, including the costs of the administration and the remuneration of the trustee.
  • Section 153B—the court may make an order annulling the bankruptcy if it is satisfied that:
    • a sequestration order should not have been made or
    • a debtor’s petition should not have been presented or accepted by the Official Receiver.

Monies administered

Monies administered by the Official Trustee show the receipts, payments and amounts held by the Official Trustee in the Common Investment Fund (CIF).

We report on monies administered by registered trustees from their annual administration returns. Our statistics do not include personal insolvencies administered by practitioners who do not lodge annual administration returns. We perform some validation of the annual administration returns data but we do not control the quality or accuracy of the data supplied to us. We may not have received and/or validated all of the annual administration returns data at the time of compilation. We wait until we have received most of the annual administration returns we compile our statistics. We do not revise our statistics with information received after the time of compilation.

We combine a range of receipts into other receipts. Other receipts for bankruptcies and personal insolvency agreements include the following information from practitioners’ annual administration returns and the comparable measures from the Official Trustee:

  • section 73 composition receipts
  • funds transferred from another trustee
  • trading receipts
  • other receipts that are subject to the realisations charge e.g. rents, dividends, royalties
  • other receipts that are not subject to the realisations charge e.g. creditor advances, indemnities.

We combine a range of payments into other payments. Other payments for bankruptcies and personal insolvency agreements include the following information from practitioners’ annual administration returns and the comparable measures from the Official Trustee:

  • funds transferred to another trustee
  • trading payments
  • refund of surplus to debtor
  • realisations charges for period receipts

Insolvency practitioners may have a single bank account for all of the individual administrations. Our statistics report on individual administrations. As a result, we exclude information such as interest charge payments.

Revisions

This publication contains minor revisions to information previously published in our annual report. We will not revise data further unless we identify an error. From time to time, we may enhance our reporting. Our guides and other explanatory materials advise of the changes and the impacts on the data.

Download the data

This zip file contains the full set of annual administration statistics we have published for the 2022-23 financial year. Associated commentary and charts are drawn exclusively from this data set. Individual links to all tables packaged in the zip file are provided on this page.
Full data set: