Key Small Business Restructuring Statistics:
- Significantly growing uptake: from 448 appointments in 2022–23 compared to 1,425 in 2023–24, with the number of appointments for 2024–25 anticipated to be around 3,000.
- Approval rate is declining: 79% in the first half of FY24-25 compared to 88% in FY22-23. Driven by an increase in plans being rejected by creditors.
- Plans are most commonly fulfilled: 92% of the 1,260 finalised SBR plans were fulfilled rather than terminated.
- Most companies who’ve fulfilled a plan remain registered: 93% where the plan was fulfilled by 31 March 2025 remained registered at the end of April 2025.
- $101 million paid to unsecured creditors: for finalised and fulfilled plans.
- Average dividend of 21 cents in the dollar: median was 20 cents in the dollar to unsecured creditors.
- Creditors were owed generally well below the $1 million threshold: $359,089 was the median value of admissible unsecured creditor claims, $427,593 was the average.
- Small number of creditors per SBR: a median of 2 creditors, an average of 4.2.
- ATO a key creditor: 93% of companies where the restructured plan was fulfilled had the ATO as a creditor.
- 87% of funds paid out went to the ATO: around 87% of funds distributed and categorised as unsecured creditor payments was paid to the ATO (approximately $88 million).
Key Takeaway
Want to learn more about small business restructure? Read our article A Creditors Guide To Small Business Restructuring which covers what this process is, how the ATO relates, what it means for creditors and how it affects PPSR.
Source: ASIC Review of small business restructuring process: 2022–24
