Majority of rules now effective.
On 27 June 2019, the majority of the Debt Agreement Reform
Bill1 became effective. The Bill was introduced in
February 2018 and received Royal Assent September last year. Its
aim is to make the debt agreement system more accessible and to
"provide greater protection for debtors and
creditors".
A debt agreement also called a Part 9 (under Part IX of the
Bankruptcy Act 1966) is when a person (debtor) makes a
formal proposal to their creditors to ask them to accept an
arrangement that is less than full payment of their debt.
Attorney-General, Christian Porter, was quoted last year saying
that the reform was in response to debt agreements being exploited
by the debt agreement industry. "It will boost confidence in
the professionalism of debt agreement administrators, deter
unscrupulous practices and enhance transparency," he said.
