On the 24 September 2020, the Australian Government announced changes to Australia’s insolvency framework to better serve Australian small businesses, their creditors and their employees. The changes introduced new processes suitable for small businesses, reducing complexity, time and costs for small businesses. Effective from 1 January 2021, these are the most significant reforms to Australia’s insolvency framework in 30 years as part of the economic recovery plan to help business and protect jobs, which draw on key features from Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States. Two years into the effectiveness of these measures, we will have a review of both the measures and the reality, with a comparison to those in India.

Hosted by Dr. Ruoying Chen, Senior Lecturer of ANU College of Law.

This event is available both in person, and online.

About the speakers

Professor Jason Harris, MAICD FGIA FGC FAAL, Professor of Corporate Law; Director, Ross Parsons Centre of Commercial, Corporate and Taxation Law, the University of Sydney Law School. Jason’s research is frequently cited in Supreme Court and Federal Court decisions and has been cited in the High Court of Australia as well as in Commonwealth parliamentary committees and by academic works in Australia and internationally. Jason is an active participant in law reform initiatives through his policy work with the Governance Institute of Australia, the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Corporations and Insolvency Committees of the Law Council of Australia. Jason has served on a number of editorial boards including for the Australian Journal of Corporate Law, the Australian Law Journal and the Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice.

Associate Professor Akshaya Kamalnath, ANU College of Law. Akshaya's research and teaching interests focus on the broad themes of corporate law, corporate governance, corporations and society, and corporate insolvency and her work is often comparative in nature. Prior to joining academia, Akshaya worked in a leading corporate law firm in India. Akshaya's doctoral thesis focused on gender diversity on corporate boards. Akshaya has published in legal journals in UK, Australia, United States, and elsewhere. Her blog posts have also featured in the Conversation, Oxford Business Law Blog, Columbia Blue Sky Blog, and Harvard Law School Forum of Corporate Governance.

Bernice Ellis is a partner at Mills Oakley. Bernice has a broad-ranging commercial-disputes practice, but her specialities are insolvency and debt recovery, shareholder disputes, building and construction disputes, and tax disputes. Bernice’s forte is managing and resolving complex claims. With an unfailing focus on getting a commercially practical result for her clients, Bernice regularly acts for insolvency practitioners, financial institutions, debtors, creditors, company directors, and shareholders.