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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:

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.

Last updated: 16/04/2025 04:24