For many Australians superannuation can be an individual’s largest asset, the feeling of losing it when filing for bankruptcy is a very authentic concern for most of our clients.
With certain components of the economy doing considerably well and other components enduring difficult economic times, bankruptcy numbers in Australia still continue to increase.
Economists don’t speak about Australia’s two-speed economy much anymore, but it definitely still is two-speed. As a result of a long-term boom in the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets, these major centres are doing quite well running at a nice speed, with no sign of stopping anytime soon.
Having said that mining areas in North Queensland and Western Australia have almost stopped dead and in some areas firmly stuck in reverse.
The Past: Superannuation and bankruptcy. Not too long ago, the Bankruptcy Act 1966 ruled that all property (including superannuation) that belonged to a bankrupt at the start of their bankruptcy was to be handed over to their creditors.
This brought up the question: was there an interest in a superannuation fund property? The law expressly answered this question with a dubitable no – the interest of a bankrupt in a regulated superannuation fund was not property divisible among creditors.
Nevertheless, this protection of superannuation was not set in stone. In 2007 the rules changed, at that time the excess of a bankruptcy’s interest in a superannuation fund that exceeded the pension ‘reasonable benefit limit’ or (RBL) did constitute property that was divisible among creditors.
Post 2007 we have ‘Simpler Super’. The simpler super changes denoted a substantial change for superannuation and bankruptcy.
The main change was, put simply, your superannuation is safe over and above the pension RBL amount. This means that protection of superannuation upon bankruptcy is now absolute, technically, a bankrupt can now have a great amount of super and it will be safe.
The government officially defined the changes through its explanatory memorandum, Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Simplification) Bill 2007, as follows:
Currently, under the Bankruptcy Act 1966, a bankrupt’s interest in a superannuation fund up to the bankrupt’s pension RBL is protected from being divisible among creditors.
A bankrupt’s superannuation interest in excess of the pension RBL automatically vests in the bankruptcy trustee. The amendments remove references to RBLs from the Bankruptcy Act 1966 to ensure consistency with the new Simplified Superannuation rules, which abolish RBLs with effect from 1 July 2007. This means that, from 1 July 2007, a bankrupt’s entire interest in a superannuation fund is protected, if you know what you are doing.

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