AFSA Chief Executive address to ARITA online forum

Acknowledgement of Country

Good afternoon.

I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet today and pay my respects to Elders past and present. I’m joining you from Sydney and acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation.

Thank you to John for inviting me to speak to you today and the ARITA team for the leadership you continue to provide to the profession.

Today I want to speak about collective stewardship.

The personal insolvency system works best when regulators, practitioners, creditors and debtors each fulfil their responsibilities.

No regulator can create confidence alone.

No profession can maintain trust alone.

Confidence in Australia’s credit system depends on all of us doing our part.

I want to focus on three areas.

First, how AFSA has responded to your feedback and strengthened our administration.

Second, our regulatory priorities for 2026–27 and what we expect from practitioners.

And finally, how together we can build a stronger and more representative insolvency profession.

Productivity Commission inquiry into reducing barriers to business dynamism

First, I want to briefly touch on the Productivity Commission inquiry into reducing barriers to business dynamism.

As we all know, the personal insolvency system plays a key role in ensuring an effective, productive and dynamic economy and credit system.

I welcome this inquiry as an opportunity for the Government to consider ways to improve the system and reduce frictions for debtors, creditors, practitioners and regulators.

This includes consideration of better alignment between the personal and corporate insolvency systems – AFSA and ARITA are broadly on the same page about that.

But this isn’t our only opportunity to think about ways to strengthen the system and the role that we play in it.

Collective stewardship begins with us

As officers of the court, registered trustees occupy a position of enormous trust.

You are the gatekeepers of Australia’s personal insolvency system.

When trustees perform that role diligently, creditors have confidence they will be treated fairly.

Debtors have confidence they will receive an honest fresh start.

The broader community has confidence that Australia’s credit system is operating with integrity.

That confidence cannot be taken for granted.

Professional services continue to operate under increasing public scrutiny.

Trust must be earned every day.

That is why I often speak about collective stewardship.

It means recognising that every decision we make affects confidence in the entire system.

It also means something very practical.

If you see something, say something.

Whether it is suspected misconduct, emerging system risks or even a cyber incident, early engagement protects everyone.

Recently one practitioner notified AFSA within an hour of discovering a cyber incident and immediately outlined the firm’s mitigation strategy.

That was exactly the type of professional judgement and accountability the community expects.

AFSA’s stewardship

Collective stewardship also places obligations on AFSA.

If we expect high standards from practitioners, you should expect the same from us.

Over the past year we have focused on becoming not only a more effective regulator but also a better administrator.

You told us where our processes created unnecessary delay.

You told us where administrative improvements would help practitioners better serve creditors and debtors.

We listened.

Working with Treasury, we established a panel of experienced independent experts to streamline trustee registration while preserving independence and technical expertise.

This has reduced the time required to convene registration committees by about half.

Since the government’s announcement in April, we’ve appointed eight members to registration committees, with two further appointments expected shortly.

We have reduced examination backlogs, strengthened Official Receiver processes and improved registry services.

Backlogs for notices such as section 139ZQ and section 139ZL applications have been addressed. One older matter is being actively managed with the trustee. All other matters are being actioned within expected timeframes.

We have strengthened the section 77C examination process, including through virtual examinations.

The Official Trustee has also delivered improvements consistent with its aspiration to be a model trustee.

The strengthened section 181A process provides greater assurance about the quality of files offered to practitioners. Industry feedback has been positive.

Targeted automation is reducing administration time and ultimately lowering costs across the system.

For example, automation of workflow and some data entry elements has reduced the handling time for income-contribution assessments by two to three minutes per process.

Across approximately 14,000 assessments a year, that represents an annual saving of more than 450 hours.

None of these changes are individually transformative.

Collectively they make the system more efficient, more responsive and easier to navigate.

That is the standard we expect of ourselves.

Our regulatory priorities

Our Regulatory Action Statement for 2026–27 identifies the three areas posing the greatest risk to system integrity.

The first is manipulation of personal insolvency proposals.

Personal insolvency agreements and section 73 proposals remain important features of Australia’s insolvency system.

Most are entirely appropriate.

But our evidence continues to show systemic misuse.

Last year AFSA reviewed 278 proposals.

Forty-eight required further investigation.

Ten required me to exercise my statutory powers as Inspector-General.

In twenty-four matters trustees were required to provide creditors with additional information before informed decisions could be made.

Cases such as Beau Hartnett and Jon Adgemis demonstrate why this matters.

Both offered creditors only a fraction of one cent in the dollar while significant questions remained about their broader financial circumstances.

These cases highlight familiar warning signs.

Extremely low returns.

Related-party creditors.

Insufficient investigation.

Attempts to manipulate creditor meetings.

As officers of the court, trustees are expected to recognise those warning signs.

Where practitioners fail to investigate thoroughly or provide creditors with objective and complete information, AFSA will intervene.

Our second priority is harmful debt agreements.

Debt agreements should help people recover—not lock them into arrangements they cannot realistically sustain.

Last year we assessed more than 6,000 proposals.

Around 800 required further regulatory scrutiny.

Our concern remains straightforward.

People experiencing financial hardship deserve advice that is in their interests—not advice driven by commercial incentives.

Our third priority is strengthening the integrity of the Personal Property Securities Register.

The PPSR is critical economic infrastructure.

Last year, through direct engagement with secured parties, we facilitated the removal of a further 200,000 outdated registrations.

This year we will also focus on registrations that are fraudulent, offensive, harmful or otherwise contrary to the public interest.

Alongside these priorities sit three enduring regulatory concerns.

Misappropriation of trust money.

Inappropriate fee practices and unnecessary delays in estate administration.

And the concealment or disposal of assets to defeat creditors.

These harms will remain a continuing focus of our regulatory effort.

Our expectations are simple.

Investigate rigorously.

Report objectively.

Manage conflicts.

Protect trust money.

Charge fairly.

And refer serious misconduct promptly—with the evidence we need to act.

Building the future profession

Collective stewardship is also about the profession we leave behind.

I want to acknowledge John for calling out – and I’ll use his words – the ‘appalling gender imbalance’ in the profession.

We had a great panel at the ARITA National Conference on how we can work together to improve opportunities for women and it’s great to see industry leadership being focused on this issue.

Progress is being made.

Four years ago women represented only nine per cent of registered trustees.

Today that figure is seventeen per cent.

That is meaningful progress.

But it is not enough.

Women account for almost half of Australians entering personal insolvency.

The profession should better reflect the community it serves.

AFSA’s decision to increase the allocation of estates to women has contributed to that progress.

ASIC’s decision to adopt the same approach is another important step.

But lasting change requires more than allocation targets.

It requires sponsorship.

Meaningful work.

Career development.

And thoughtful judgement.

Recently we considered an applicant who had taken two periods of maternity leave.

While she narrowly missed the technical hours requirement over five years, she had accumulated more than 5,600 hours across seven years and over a decade of restructuring experience.

Looking at the substance of her experience—not simply the arithmetic—she was encouraged to apply and is now a registered trustee.

That is proportionate regulation.

Maintaining standards without applying them mechanically.

Conclusion

Collective stewardship is built on mutual responsibility.

AFSA must regulate proportionately, administer effectively and continue improving our services.

Practitioners must uphold the independence, diligence and professionalism expected of officers of the court.

Together we must be willing to challenge conduct that threatens confidence in the system.

Because ultimately this is about more than insolvency.

It is about maintaining trust in Australia’s credit system.

And trust is something all of us are responsible for protecting.

Thank you.

I look forward to your questions.