Woods MeganINSOLVENCY PRACTITIONERS REGULATION (AMENDMENTS) BILLINSOLVENCY PRACTITIONERS REGULATION BILLThird ReadingsHon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Energy and Resources) on behalf of the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: I move That the Insolvency Practitioners Regulation (Amendments) Bill and the Insolvency Practitioners Regulation Bill be now read a third time.This legislation is an important part of the commerce and consumer affairs agenda as its purpose is to promote better outcomes under the corporate insolvency system by strengthening the regulation of insolvency practitioners. In the second reading of the Insolvency Practitioners Bill Minister Faafoi indicated that it would be divided into three bills not two. A third bill ultimately has not proved necessary. These two bills have had a long journey through this House which Minister Faafoi did not propose going into today but they are better for it.The Insolvency Practitioners Regulation Bill is aimed at promoting better outcomes under the corporate insolvency system by strengthening the regulation of practitioners. One of the main aims of the insolvency law is for businesses to be turned around if they are viable—and that is important. If not they should be wound up and the assets realised and distributed to creditors in accordance with clear rules and with a minimum of harm both to the insolvent party and to their creditors. This is a system that relies on trustworthy and competent professionals to act in the best interests of creditors.This bill that we now have before us supports these outcomes by introducing a robust new regime for the licensing of practitioners providing effective mechanisms for holding them to account and requiring such things as continuing professional development to raise the standards of practitioners' behaviour over time. These are necessary changes to ensure that all insolvency practitioners meet the basic standards of honesty and competence that the public is entitled to expect of them. Unfortunately a small number of practitioners continue to fall well short of these standards and engage in conduct such as charging excessive fees for their services carrying out unnecessary work so as to inflate their fees acting in the interests of the directors of insolvent companies who appoint them at the expense of the creditors and taking on appointments without the necessary skills knowledge or expertise.So we can see that under this legislation there are some key features of the co-regulatory and licence system that needed to be addressed. Within this bill is proposed a co-regulatory licensing system modelled on the one in the Auditor Regulation Act of 2012. Under this system the Registrar of Companies will be required to set minimum standards for licensing insolvency practitioners and to accredit professional bodies. These accredited bodies will be responsible for the front-line licensing and regulation of individual practitioners which includes regulating their entry into the profession and ongoing competence investigating complaints against practitioners and reporting on the adequacy and effectiveness of their regulatory systems and processes.In addition the second of these bills—the Insolvency Practitioners Regulation (Amendments) Bill—makes other amendments to the Companies Act and Receiverships Act. This bill is aimed at updating these pieces of legislation to make sure they are still fit for purpose and reflect the new Insolvency Practitioners Regulation Bill. These amendments update these Acts to reflect new requirements for the licensing of insolvency practitioners increase the transparency of practitioner appointments and improve practitioner reporting requirements.I am proud—and the Minister who has worked on these changes is proud—of what has been accomplished with these bills and want to acknowledge all the hard work that has gone into getting them to this stage. I would like to thank the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee for its thoughtful consideration of the Insolvency Practitioners Bill. I'd also like to thank the members of the Insolvency Working Group and all of the people who submitted on the Insolvency Practitioners Bill. This bill does enhance the integrity of the corporate insolvency system and will support honest business practices. I commend these bills to the House.