BANKRUPTCIES
Business bankruptcies
Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia (ITSA) refer to business bankruptcy as where an individual's bankruptcy is directly related to their ownership of a business. For 2005-06 data, ITSA used the state of residence to classify bankruptcies for the first time, so these data are not comparable to previously published figures. The reason for bankruptcy is that which is reported by the bankrupt business owner.
As was the case nationally, the most frequently reported cause of business bankruptcies in the ACT during 2005-06 was Economic conditions (accounting for 42% of all ACT business bankruptcies, and 33% nationally), Lack of business ability (12% of business bankruptcies in the ACT and nationally) and Excessive drawings (12% of ACT business bankruptcies and 10% nationally).
Ten percent of ACT business bankruptcies 2005-06 were attributed to Seasonal conditions, in contrast to 1% nationally.
11.2 Reported causes of business bankruptcies, ACT and Australia - 2005-06 |
|  |
| ACT | Aust. | |
| no. | % | no. | % | |
| |
| Economic conditions | 17 | 42 | 1 399 | 33 | |
| Lack of capital | 2 | 5 | 393 | 9 | |
| Lack of business ability | 5 | 12 | 537 | 12 | |
| Excessive drawings | 5 | 12 | 428 | 10 | |
| Inability to collect debts | - | - | 142 | 3 | |
| Excessive interest | 2 | 5 | 213 | 5 | |
| Failure to keep proper books | 3 | 7 | 195 | 5 | |
| Seasonal conditions | 4 | 10 | 50 | 1 | |
| Gambling or speculation | 1 | 2 | 49 | 1 | |
| Other reasons (incl. not stated) | 1 | 2 | 347 | 8 | |
| Personal reasons (incl. ill health) | 1 | 2 | 545 | 13 | |
| Total | 41 | 100 | 4 298 | 100 | |
| |
| - nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) |
| Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia, Annual Report by the Inspector-General in Bankruptcy on the Operation of the Bankruptcy Act, 2005-2006. |
Non-business bankruptcies
ITSA refer to non-business bankruptcies as bankruptcies where an individual's occupation and cause of bankruptcy are not related to any ownership of a business.
There were 222 non-business bankruptcies in the ACT during 2005-06. The three most commonly reported causes of non-business bankruptcies in the ACT were the same as those reported nationally, namely Unemployment (40% of ACT non-business bankruptcies, and 33% nationally), Excessive use of credit (20% of ACT non-business bankruptcies and 26% nationally) and Domestic discord (14% of ACT non-business bankruptcies and 13% nationally).
11.3 Reported causes of non-business bankruptcies, ACT and Australia - 2005-06 |
| |
| ACT | Aust. | |
| no. | % | no. | % | |
| |
| Unemployment | 89 | 40 | 6 074 | 33 | |
| Excessive use of credit | 45 | 20 | 4 702 | 26 | |
| Domestic discord | 30 | 14 | 2 274 | 13 | |
| Ill health | 16 | 7 | 2 057 | 11 | |
| Adverse litigation | 14 | 6 | 855 | 5 | |
| Gambling or spectulation | 7 | 3 | 673 | 4 | |
| Liabilities on guarantees | 6 | 3 | 380 | 2 | |
| Other causes or not stated | 15 | 7 | 1 198 | 7 | |
| Total | 222 | 100 | 18 213 | 100 | |
| |
| Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia, Annual Report by the Inspector-General in Bankruptcy on the Operation of the Bankruptcy Act, 2005-2006. |
