The number of businesses collapsing in Western Australia fell by almost half in the 2021 financial year, matching decreases across the country.
Only 338 WA businesses entered administration in the 12 months to June, according to data from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
That’s down 46 per cent on the year to June 2019.
Just more than half of the administrations were creditor wind ups.
It covered a period in which there were altered rules around insolvencies desgined to protect directors during the pandemic lockdown last year.
There were 29 voluntary administrations since director rules were normalised from COVID settings at the end of March.
For comparison, in the 2017 financial year, there were more than 1,000 administrations.
HLB MannJudd Insolvency WA principal Kim Wallman said the sector continued to be very quiet.
The Australian Taxation Office was not taking action to recover outstanding debts, although there had been indications the office may seek to tighten its stance after October, Mr Wallman said.
But there were indications insolvencies may increase, with enquiries starting to rise, he said, although still well below the level prior to the pandemic.
Nationally, about 4,200 companies entered administration during 2021, a fall of 42 per cent on 2020.
