By Brandon Dunn Accountants rarely hesitate because they cannot see the problem. They hesitate because they are not sure what happens to the client relationship once a specialist is involved, and because the first call feels like a decision you can’t walk back. Those two concerns are worth separating. An early conversation with a practitioner...
By Glenn O’Kearney, Registered Liquidator and Registered Bankruptcy Trustee Australia recorded 14,722 corporate insolvencies in FY2024–25, the highest level since 1999–2000. Behind each of those figures sits a director asking a different question to the one covered in our voluntary administration guide: not “is my company insolvent”, but “am I personally exposed for continuing to...
By Christine Stead, Manager at GT Advisory & Consulting The Queensland construction and building sector operates under one of the most stringent regulatory environments in Australia. For commercial builders and contractors, an acute cash-flow crisis does not just threaten balance-sheet solvency; it triggers immediate regulatory intervention by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC). Under...
There is a profound emotional weight attached to the financial distress of a multi-generational family business. When an enterprise has operated continuously within a local community for decades, an insolvency event is never just a cold ledger exercise. It represents the potential destruction of immense brand equity, the termination of family livelihoods, and the erasure...
When a mid-market corporate group operating across multiple locations experiences financial distress, the appropriate insolvency pathway depends heavily on timing, structure, stakeholder position and the underlying viability of the business. Voluntary administration and liquidation remain important formal options in the right circumstances, but where a business has a viable core and directors engage early, a...
In March 2026, Bluesfest (one of Australia’s most beloved music festivals, which has been running out of Byron Bay for over three decades) filed for voluntary administration. Thirty-plus years of history, a festival that had hosted legends from B.B. King to Santana, and it wasn’t immune to the financial pressures grinding down businesses across the...
Nobody starts a business planning for liquidation. But the reality of running a company in Australia (and particularly through the economic turbulence of the last few years, as you are probably already painfully aware of) is that directors sometimes find themselves needing to understand a process they hoped they’d never have to think about. It...
The Human Side of Business Recovery: A Conversation with Christine Stead and YP Gold Coast “Our decisions are guided by legislation, not just made on a whim. But we break things down so people don’t walk away from a meeting feeling like they didn’t understand a word.” Christine Stead, Senior Manager, GT Advisory. ...
There’s a line that every director of a struggling Australian company needs to know about, and the uncomfortable truth is that many directors cross it without realising they’ve done so until someone sits across from them and explains the personal consequences. That line is insolvent trading. And unlike a lot of corporate law concepts that...
What is Voluntary Administration in Australia? A Complete Guide When a business starts showing signs of serious financial strain, directors often find themselves in unfamiliar territory. The phone calls from creditors are getting harder to manage. Cash flow is tight in a way that feels structural rather than temporary. The ATO has started making...