Insolvency
Insolvency is when a company or person can't pay debts when they are due.
There are several options available to an insolvent company or person:
- the most common corporate insolvency procedures for an insolvent company are liquidation, small business restructuring, voluntary administration and receivership (see Closing a small business for more information)
- the available personal insolvency procedures for an insolvent personÌý²¹°ù±ð .
½ñÈÕÈÈÃÅʼþregulates companies, it does not manage personal insolvency procedures. For more information about bankruptcy and personal insolvency agreements, .
Find out how a corporate insolvency affects you:
More insolvency information
Insolvency notices
If you are owed money by an insolvent company or you are a creditor, search insolvency notices on our to find out if an external administrator has been appointed over a company.
Serving Court applications on ASIC
If you are considering making an application to court about an external administration you should read this page about how to serve ½ñÈÕÈÈÃÅʼþand when ½ñÈÕÈÈÃÅʼþresponds.Ìý
Requesting eligible applicant authorisation
Our information sheetÌýexplains:Ìý
- who can be an eligible applicant  Ìý
- how to become an eligible applicant, and Ìý
- the matters and principles ½ñÈÕÈÈÃÅʼþconsiders when deciding whether to grant a request for eligible applicant authorisation. 
Insolvency reforms for small business
Insolvency reforms for small business came into effect on 1 January 2021. These reforms followed theÌýtemporary measuresÌýintroduced in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These measures only apply to eligible incorporated small businesses with liabilities of less than $1 million.
The reforms include a new:
- debt-restructuring process for incorporated small businesses
- simplified liquidation process for incorporated small businesses
- ‘class’ of registered liquidator.
Corporate insolvency trends in Australia
See insolvency statistics for more information.
Not sure what that insolvency term means?
See Information Sheet 41 (INFO 41) Insolvency: A glossary of terms.