In an excellent article from Australia I learned that the consumer debt crisis is causing people everyday in Queensland to petition for bankruptcy. The consumer debt crisis is certainly not limited to just one country and with the embrace of easy credit in roo land, consumers are feeling the debt pain also.
The article, Cast Off the Debt Load had some important observations and advice I want to share.
Former chartered accountant Fred Appleton is a former bankrupt who now has a booming business helping other people declare themselves bankrupt and start again.
“If someone asks me whether they should go bankrupt, I say yes every time,” he says. “If you are struggling and it is affecting your life, the chances are that your best option is bankruptcy and that’s nothing to be ashamed of anymore.
“If you think you are insolvent, you are and I say “don’t wait’, go bankrupt and start your life, and your financial life too, all over again.”
Australia is even planning an overhaul of current bankruptcy legislation which will bring it more in line with bankruptcy in the UK and America.
“Punishment-free” bankruptcy is now being proposed by the Rudd government in response to “changing economic conditions” and a desire to get bankrupts back to work and contributing to society.
A “co-operative” bankrupt could be back in business almost right away if all creditors can be identified quickly.
The current period of bankruptcy is three years, during which a bankrupt person lives under tight travel and financial restrictions. The Commonwealth Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, wants to slash that period to 12 months or less.
