Section 56FBankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth)

Extra duties of non‑petitioning partners who become bankrupts

(1) A member of a partnership who did not join in presenting a debtor’s petition against the partnership but became a bankrupt as a result of the acceptance of the petition must give the Official Receiver:

(a) a statement of the member’s affairs; and

(b) a statement of the affairs of the partnership;

within 14 days after the day that the member was notified of his or her bankruptcy.

Penalty: 50 penalty units.

(1A) Subsection (1) is an offence of strict liability.

Note: For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code.

(1B) It is an exception to an offence against subsection (1) if the member has a reasonable excuse.

Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (1B) (see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code).

(2) A member of a partnership complies with paragraph (1)(b) if the member and at least one other member of the partnership who did not join in presenting the petition against the partnership jointly give the Official Receiver a statement of the affairs of the partnership.

(3) A member of a partnership who must give statements of affairs to the Official Receiver under subsection (1) must give copies of the statements to the trustee in the member’s bankruptcy.

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 May 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au. Verify the current text against the official source before relying on it.

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