5. Conclusion
Natural disasters have always been intimately connected with the Australian experience of personal insolvency. As climate change intensifies, Australians are confronting these events with increasing frequency. They are also witnessing new natural phenomena with profound economic consequences, such as the unprecedented algal bloom currently affecting coastal communities in South Australia.[1] These phenomena not only cause sudden, catastrophic losses but increase financial pressure on households and businesses over time, for example by making insurance increasingly costly or even unattainable.
Many Australians financially affected by climate change will require far more comprehensive assistance than they can obtain by entering personal insolvency.[2] Merely discharging someone’s debts cannot restore a lost home, job, small business or community. Even so, the personal insolvency system continues to offer a vital last resort for those in financial crisis. In this respect, it remains an important tool for climate conscious lawyers.
- Sophie Holder, ‘Yorke Peninsula Businesses Worry Tourists Won’t Return if Algal Bloom Continues Over Summer’, ABC News (Web Page, 13 September 2025) <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-13/communities-worry-tourists-wont-return-if-algal-bloom-continues/105754016>. ↵
- Paul de Jersey, ‘Opening Address’ (Speech, 18th Insolvency Practitioners’ Association National Conference, 2 June 2011) 4. ↵
A collection of legal processes governed by the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth), and regulated by the Australian Financial Security Authority, offering debt relief to individuals in severe financial hardship.
