Joint consumer submission (Ied by Financial Rights Legal Centre) in response to the above discussion paper, which in turn came from a Roundtable hosted by the Attorney-General in March 2023. We argue that the forced bankruptcy threshold should increase from $10,000 to $50,000, that the bankruptcy notice period be extended to 60 days, that the National Personal Insolvency Index be modernised and harmonised with the credit reporting framework, that entering a debt agreement should not be an act of bankruptcy and that the payment to income ratio for a debt agreement should be set by legislative instrument to mitigate against people entering into unaffordable agreements.
230927_Joint_Consumer_Sub_FinalResponse to the “Personal Insolvency Discussion Paper”
Submission to: Attorney-General’s Department
Related Projects
Credit Card Responsible Lending Assessments – Joint Submission
Submission to: Australian Securities Investments Commissions
Licensing Debt Management Firms: Exposure Draft Regulations
Joint consumer group submission (led by Consumer Action Law Centre) into proposed laws that will require some debt management firms (DMFs) to hold an Australian Credit Licence. The submission supports this proposal but sets out why are more robust licensing and conduct regime is needed to adequately prevent consumer harm. This would include a requirement that all DMFs act in the customer’s best interests, a ban on upfront fees, a ban on DMFs taking a legal charge over a client’s assets to secure their fees, and mandatory signposting to free services such as financial counselling as other options.