fee, and any other person may on payment of the fee determined by the Minister by legislative instrument, inspect, personally or by an agent, the statement of affairs that accompanied the petition presented by the bankrupt, and may obtain a copy of, or take extracts from, the statement.
(10) A bankrupt who has become a bankrupt by force of this section may, without fee and either personally or by an agent:
(a) inspect the bankrupt’s statement of affairs; and
(b) obtain a copy of, or make extracts from, the bankrupt’s statement of affairs.
(11) If the approved form for a statement of affairs indicates that particular information in the statement will not be made available to the public, then the Official Receiver must ensure that the information is not made available under this section to any person other than the bankrupt (or an agent of the bankrupt).
(12) The Official Receiver may refuse to allow a person access under this section to particular information in a bankrupt’s statement of affairs on the ground that access to that information would jeopardise, or be likely to jeopardise, the safety of any person.
56A Persons who may present a debtor’s petition against a partnership
(1) A debtor’s petition against a partnership may be presented by:
(a) all the partners; or
(b) a majority of the partners who are resident in Australia.
(2) A member of a partnership who is a party (as debtor) to a debt agreement must not join in presenting a debtor’s petition against the partnership unless the Court gives the member permission to do so.
(3) A member of a partnership who has executed a personal insolvency agreement must not join in presenting a petition against the partnership unless:
(a) the agreement has been set aside; or
(b) the agreement has been terminated; or
(c) all the obligations that the agreement created have been discharged; or
(d) the Court gives permission for the member to join in presenting a petition against the partnership.
(6) A member of a partnership in relation to whom a stay under a proclaimed law applies must not join in presenting a petition against the partnership unless the Court gives the member permission to do so.
(7) If a member of a partnership contravenes subsection (2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) by joining in the presentation of a petition, the petition does not have any effect.
56B Presentation of a debtor’s petition against a partnership
(1) Any debtor’s petition against a partnership must be presented to the Official Receiver.
(2) A petition must be in accordance with the approved form.
(3) A petition must be accompanied by:
(a) a statement of affairs of each member of the partnership by whom the petition is presented; and
(b) a statement of the partnership affairs; and
(c) a copy of each of those statements.
(4) The Official Receiver may reject a petition if:
(a) the petition does not comply substantially with the approved form; or
(b) the petition is not accompanied by the statements of affairs of each petitioning partner and of the partnership; or
(c) the Official Receiver thinks that any of the statements of affairs accompanying the petition is inadequate.
(5) Before accepting a debtor’s petition against a partnership, the Official Receiver must give the information prescribed by the regulations to each member of the partnership who joined in presenting the petition.
56C Referral to the Court of a debtor’s petition against a partnership
(1) The Official Receiver must refer a debtor’s petition against a partnership to the Court for a direction to accept or reject the petition if either or both of the following conditions are met:
(a) the petition was presented against the partnership by some, but not all, members of the partnership;
(b) there is at least one creditor’s petition pending against at least one of the members of the partnership (not counting a creditor’s petition against all the members of the partnership and no-one else).
Example 1: Edith, Lindsay and Bertha are the members of a partnership. When Edith and Lindsay present a debtor’s petition against the partnership there is a creditor’s petition pending against Bertha. The Official Receiver must refer the debtor’s petition to the Court.
Example 2: Keith, Leigh and Judith are the members of a partnership. When they all present a debtor’s petition against the partnership, there are 2 creditor’s petitions pending: one against Keith, Leigh and Judith, the other against Judith alone. The Official Receiver must refer the debtor’s petition to the Court.
Example 3: Meredith, Ramsay and Wilson are the members of a partnership. When they all present a debtor’s petition against the partnership, there are 2 creditor’s petitions pending. Both of the creditor’s petitions are against Meredith, Ramsay and Wilson (and no-one else). There is no requirement for the Official Receiver to refer the debtor’s petition to the Court.
(2) If the Official Receiver refers a petition to the Court because the petition was presented by some, but not all, of the members of the partnership, the Official Receiver must give notice in accordance with the regulations to the members who did not present the petition.
(3) After a petition has been referred to the Court, the Court must direct the Official Receiver:
(a) to accept the petition in the form in which it was referred to the Court; or
(b) to accept the petition after amending it as directed by the Court; or
(c) to reject the petition.
(4) If:
(a) a debtor’s petition is presented against a partnership that includes a person to whom a stay applies under a proclaimed law; and
(b) the person is not one of the petitioning partners;
the Court must not give a direction in relation to the petition until the person administering the proclaimed law has had an opportunity to be heard.
(5) If the Court directs the Official Receiver to accept (either with or without amendments) a petition referred to the Court, the Court must specify the time of the commencement of the bankruptcy of each of the persons who becomes a bankrupt as a result of the acceptance of the petition.
56D Acceptance of a debtor’s petition against a partnership by the Official Receiver
(1) The Official Receiver must accept a debtor’s petition against a partnership unless the Official Receiver rejects it under section 56B or is directed by the Court to reject the petition.
(2) When the Official Receiver accepts the petition, the Official Receiver must note on it the fact that it has been accepted.
56E Effects of acceptance of a debtor’s petition against a partnership
(1) When the Official Receiver notes the fact of acceptance on a petition that has not been amended under a direction of the Court, each member of the partnership becomes a bankrupt by force of this section.
(2) When the Official Receiver notes the fact of acceptance on a petition that has been amended under a direction of the Court, each member of the partnership to whom the petition applies becomes a bankrupt by force of this section.
(3) A person who becomes a bankrupt by force of this section continues to be a bankrupt until:
(a) he or she is discharged by force of subsection 149(1); or
(b) his or her bankruptcy is annulled by force of subsection