Get me out of debt

EXCESSIVE use of credit and credit cards has contributed to a leap in the number of personal bankruptcy cases. Figures from the Insolvency and Trustee Service of Australia show that there were 9,300 new bankruptcies, debt agreements or personal insolvency cases in Australia in the first quarter of 2009, an increase of 18.25 per cent on the same period from the previous year.

The main causes of personal insolvency were unemployment and excessive use of credit. The vast majority of bankruptcies were non-business-related personal bankruptcies. Credit cards should not be seen as the simple cause of bankruptcies because unemployment or ill-health could contribute to a greater reliance on credit and therefore various reasons for insolvency.

The report showed the occupations most likely to be affected by bankruptcy, debt agreements or personal insolvency were clerical workers, service workers, labourers, and mine workers. Marketing and availability of credit cards leads to people spending more than they can afford. People are sometimes offered more than 10 times the credit they ask for, and then they are encouraged to spend it, or they are sent a pre-approved credit limit increase.