Small Business Restructurings up 300 Percent in a Year, Set to Soar Further

Restructuring is a type of external administration companies undergo when insolvent, with the alternative being liquidation.

A worker cleans while wearing a mask at a restaurant at Southbank, Brisbane in Australia, on June 29, 2021. Jono Searle/Getty Images

The number of businesses attempting to trade while restructuring has increased from 448 in 2022/23, to 1,425 in just one financial year, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) predicts that number in 2024/25 will soar to over 3,000.

Under the Small Business Restructuring (SBR) process, a business that appoints a restructuring practitioner and enters external administration—effectively handing over control to the administrator—must inform the Commission, which then notes this in the Company Register.