The fresh start goal of the bankruptcy act: giving a temporary reprieve or facilitating debtor rehabilitation?

Abstract

Providing debtors with the opportunity for a fresh start is popularly regarded as one of the main goals of bankruptcy legislation. However, there has been limited analysis of this goal. This article confirms that the fresh start is one of the main goals of the Australian Bankruptcy Act, and argues that this fresh start focuses on discharge of debt and does not explicitly address debtor rehabilitation. A review of the key goals could examine whether, and to what extent, rehabilitation should also be a focus of the fresh start in Australian bankruptcy law.