THE number of new bankruptcies for the September quarter has fallen 9 per cent on the previous quarter.
Provisional bankruptcy statistics show the number of new bankruptcies was 6,504. In the June quarter there were 7,169.
The majority of new bankruptcies continued to
be in the non-business area. There were 1,077 business bankruptcies – just 16.6 per cent of the September quarter fig-ures.
A spokesman for the Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia said the figures suggested the GST had no significant impact on people becoming bankrupt.
When debtors become bankrupt they are required to complete a Statement of Affairs, which requires them to state the primary reason for their insolvency.
The spokesman said there was a broad range of causes for people who owned businesses becoming bankrupt.
Causes cited included eco-nomic conditions, lack of busi-ness ability and lack of working capital.
However, anecdotal evidence indicates many small retailers are finding times hard.
Many retailers expect the number of bankruptcies in that sector to rise.
