Part IX debt agreements for Australian consumers: provider comparison

Fox Symes versus Revive Financial: what each page discloses

Fox Symes discloses more fee components than Revive Financial, but neither cited page supports a complete total-cost comparison.[4][6]

A Part IX debt agreement is a legally binding personal-insolvency compromise under which creditors accept an affordable amount over time. It is not a consolidation loan and may not cover every debt.[1][2] Both providers’ pages are undated commercial disclosures, so their descriptions are provider claims rather than independent evidence.[4][6]

Fox Symes

• Fees: Fox Symes identifies setup and ongoing administration fees without giving their complete amounts on the cited page.[4] The supplier page identifies an A$200 AFSA proposal-lodgement fee and a 7% AFSA realisations charge on money received by the administrator.[4] The current in-force Fees and Remuneration Determination independently specifies the A$200 lodgement fee in clause 2.07.[7] These statutory charges are separate from an administrator’s own fees; require a single written cash-flow schedule showing every deduction and the amount reaching creditors.[4]
• Refunds: Setup and lodgement fees are generally not refunded if creditors reject the proposal, the applicant withdraws after AFSA processing or rejection results from omitted material information. The setup fee is refunded where a Fox Symes error causes rejection, subject to its Appointment and Agreement form.[4]
• Scope: The service covers proposal preparation, AFSA lodgement and ongoing administration. Fox Symes requests documents such as payslips, bank statements and rent or mortgage records, and says creditor acceptance cannot be guaranteed.[4]

Revive Financial

• Fees: Revive Financial advertises a free assessment and says it explains all fees before commitment, but the cited page gives no dollar or percentage fee.[6]
• Refunds: The cited page does not state refund conditions.[6]
• Scope: The service described includes proposal preparation and lodgement, creditor engagement and payment administration.[6]

What to confirm with each provider

The cited pages do not state cooling-off or cancellation rights, service-area limits or independent acceptance and completion rates.[4][6]

• Obtain a written total showing every setup, lodgement, administration, percentage-based and recoverable charge, plus the amount expected to reach creditors.
• Check the refund and cancellation terms for AFSA rejection, creditor rejection, withdrawal, omitted information and provider error.
• Confirm where the provider operates and what the signed service includes.
• Ask for evidence behind any acceptance or completion-rate claim.

Administrator checks before signing

• Registration and complaints: Search the administrator’s name on AFSA’s registered-administrator list and confirm the full charge and appointment terms.[1] Debt agreement administrators must have appropriate knowledge, skills, insurance and AFCA membership; complaints about them may be lodged with AFCA.[2]
• Complete costs: Request a dollar-based schedule covering setup and lodgement costs, administration fees, percentage deductions, AFSA charges and recoverable expenses. Recoverable expenses must be disclosed in the proposal.[1][2]
• Refund triggers: Require the treatment of rejection, withdrawal, omissions and provider error to appear in the appointment agreement. Fox Symes makes its stated refund treatment subject to its Appointment and Agreement form.[4]
• Service scope: Record who prepares and lodges the proposal, communicates with creditors, receives and distributes payments, provides updates and assists if circumstances change.[4][6]
• Conflicts: An administrator or related entity cannot vote on a proposal made after 27 June 2019 where the vote concerns its own fees.[2]

Could free hardship options avoid a debt agreement?

Before committing to a debt agreement, consider whether free creditor hardship options could produce an affordable result. Options include asking for more time, negotiating flexible repayments or a smaller settlement, and using a free financial counsellor. Direct creditor negotiation is also free.[1][5]

1. Lodge a hardship notice: Under the National Credit Code, notice can be given verbally or in writing.[3]
2. Track the first deadline: If the provider has enough information, it has 21 days from the day after receiving the notice to decide.[3]
3. Respond to information requests: If more information is needed, the provider has 21 days to request it and 21 days after receiving it to respond. If no information is supplied, it must respond within 28 days after making the request.[3]
4. Document longer variations: If an agreed change reduces or defers obligations for more than 90 days, the provider must supply written contract changes within 30 days. That notice is not required when the change lasts 90 days or less.[3]

Financial Rights says a hardship arrangement remains on a credit report for one year.[5] Other options requiring separate assessment include budgeting, lower-rate refinancing where available, an informal creditor arrangement, temporary debt protection, a personal insolvency agreement or bankruptcy.[1][5]

Eligibility and AFSA rejection risks

Meeting the headline limits does not guarantee acceptance. An applicant must be insolvent—unable to pay debts when due—and have unsecured debt, property and income below the applicable indexed limits.[2] Check the figures applying immediately before signing rather than relying on an older advertisement or assessment.

A person cannot propose a debt agreement if they were bankrupt or entered a debt agreement during the preceding 10 years.[2] Fox Symes also identifies giving a Part X authority during that period as disqualifying; applicants affected by that issue should verify it against their circumstances.[4]

Proposed payments are subject to a prescribed income-to-payment ratio incorporating a low-income-debtor amount.[2] AFSA assesses the eligibility of the applicant and administrator, affordability, sustainability and possible undue hardship, and may request financial or asset information. It cannot overlook even a small breach of a monetary threshold.[2][5]

AFSA may reject a proposal where:

• payments would cause undue hardship;[2]
• the applicant’s financial affairs are too complex or unclear for the proposal to serve creditors’ interests;[2]
• there is only one creditor; or[2]
• a resubmitted proposal does not address concerns raised by a major creditor.[2]

Figures, assets and creditor details should be complete and accurate. Once signed, the completed proposal must reach AFSA within 14 days.[2][5]

Consequences of acceptance or failure

Submission does not make a proposal binding. Creditors vote, and acceptance requires a majority by debt value. If approved, creditors with provable debts are bound even if they voted against the proposal.[1][2]

AFSA screening, creditor voting and commencement of an agreement are different stages. The Legal Services Commission explains that AFSA approval for processing precedes the creditor vote; the agreement requires the prescribed creditor acceptance. A public-register entry is not, by itself, proof that a binding agreement has commenced or that debts have been discharged.[2] After all required obligations and payments are completed, the debtor is released from most covered unsecured debt; secured-creditor rights and another person’s joint liability require separate consideration.[8][2] Ask the administrator to identify the legal basis and start date of any collection restriction or interest treatment for each debt rather than promising an automatic freeze on lodgement.

After all required payments are made, the debtor is released from covered debts. Debts incurred after commencement and specified excluded debts remain recoverable.[2]

Proposing a debt agreement is an act of bankruptcy and may later support a creditor application to make the debtor bankrupt.[2][5] An agreement terminates automatically after six months of missed payments. Financial Rights also identifies automatic termination where all payments remain unpaid six months after the scheduled end date.[2][5]

After termination, creditors may pursue outstanding or original balances, back-dated interest and bankruptcy action.[2][5] Moneysmart states that a creditor may apply for bankruptcy where unsecured debt exceeds $10,000.[1]

Decision check: Compare the written total cost with free hardship options, verify every covered and excluded debt, and test whether the proposed payment would remain affordable if income fell or essential expenses increased.[1][2]

Account for the public-register and credit-report period

Sections 82 and 83 of the Bankruptcy Regulations 2021 distinguish the outcome of the agreement or proposal.[8]

• Completed agreement: the Official Receiver must remove the information within one month after the later of five years from the agreement date or the day it ends under section 185N.
• Terminated or declared void: removal is within one month after the later of five years from the agreement date or two years from the termination or voiding order, as applicable.
• Withdrawn, rejected, cancelled or lapsed proposal: section 83 requires removal within one year after the relevant event.

Credit-reporting records are separate. The OAIC’s consumer table gives a five-year reference period from the date a debt agreement was made and outcome-dependent end dates. Confirm the applicable retention rule with the credit-reporting body; completing payments does not mean every public or credit record disappears immediately.[9] Ask how the proposed term and possible termination would affect these dates.

References

1. Bankruptcy and debt agreements – Moneysmart.gov.au (moneysmart.gov.au)
2. Debt Agreements (sa.gov.au)
3. FAQs: Dealing with consumers and credit | ASIC (asic.gov.au)
4. Part 9 Debt Agreement – Everything You Should Know | Fox Symes (foxsymes.com.au)
5. Debt Agreements – Financial Rights Legal Centre (financialrights.org.au)
6. Part (IX) 9 Debt Agreement – Take Back Control – Revive Financial (revivefinancial.com.au)
7. Bankruptcy (Fees and Remuneration) Determination 2015 — current in-force compilation (legislation.gov.au)
8. Bankruptcy Regulations 2021 — 1 July 2026 compilation, sections 82 and 83 (legislation.gov.au)
9. OAIC — What stays on a credit report? (oaic.gov.au)