Submission: Review of debt agreements under the Bankruptcy Act 1966 – Proposals Paper
Consumer Action has made a submission to the Review of Debt Agreements under the Bankruptcy Act 1966 proposals paper. Our submission:
- reiterates our recommendation that the Bankruptcy Act should be amended to introduce a minimum income eligibility threshold for debt agreements to decrease the number of clearly inappropriate debt agreements being entered;
- supports proposal 2 (that debt agreement administrators should be required to certify that a debt agreement is a suitable option for the debtor, not only that it is affordable);
- strongly supports proposal 8 (that the Inspector-General be given powers to impose industry wide conditions) and also recommends that amendments to the Bankruptcy Act be introduced to address the serious and widespread use of advertising by debt agreement providers which we believe to be misleading;
- does not support proposal 10 (which would allow creditors to propose a modification of a debt agreement) because we believe it will create significantly more pressure on debtors to enter unaffordable debt agreements; and
- responds to a number of other proposals in the proposals paper.
To read our submission, click here: Review of Debt Agreements Under the Bankruptcy Act 1966 – Proposals Paper.
