BANKRUPTCIES and personal insolvencies skyrocketed in the Swan Hill region in the last financial quarter.
According to personal insolvency statistics released by the Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) this week, the Swan Hill district recorded 17 new insolvent debtors over the March quarter — more than doubling the seven it had in the December quarter.
Of the insolvencies, four were business-related and 13 were non-business related, up from one and six respectively in the December quarter.
The figures revealed it was the worst quarter for personal insolvencies experienced in the Swan Hill region since data started being released by the AFSA in the December 2013 quarter.
According to the AFSA, the most common causes of insolvencies in the March quarter were unemployment or loss of income.
Mallee Family Care (MFC) financial counselor Kaylene Birch said the factors that typically presented themselves the most from the financially struggling Swan Hill residents that came to her were inability to pay “higher utility bills and rent arrears”.
However, there weren’t any observable differences in recent months to account for the increase in personal debtors.
“There’s nothing that have been brought to my attention, there’s no repetitive type of issues,” Ms Birch said.
“Some of those [problems] have turned into bankruptcy, but generally we tend to deflect that with good payment plans and budgeting advice.”
For more on this story, grab a copy of Friday’s Guardian (May 15).
