Re Mullavey; Ex parte Australia and New Zealand Banking Group [1977] FCA 86

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32 F.L.R.] FEDERAL LAW REPORTS

THE FEDERAL LAW REPORTS

[FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA]

Re MULLAVEY; Ex parte AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LTD.

Bankruptcy—Creditor's petition—Bankruptcy notice claiming Fev. Cr judgment debt—Notice specifying branch office as address of graven. creditor company rather than registered office—Statutory : interest on judgment debt not claimed in notice— Whether 1977,

, MELBOURNE, notice irregular. April 26;

Aug. 11;

The creditor's petition for a sequestration order was based upon, inter alia, the Sept. 27; debtor's failure to comply with a bankruptcy notice claiming a sum due to the Nov. 8. creditor under a judgment against the debtor in the Supreme Court of Victoria. C. A. Sweeney J. The debtor opposed the petition on the grounds that he did not commit an act of bankruptcy as the notice served on him was irregular in that, inter alia (i) it did not contain any, or alternatively the correct, address of the judgment creditor, and (ii) it was likely to perplex the debtor in that it did not make clear whether interest was claimed on the judgment debt or alternatively whether it was abandoned. It was established by evidence that the address of the creditor in the notice was the address of one of its branches (where the loan the subject of the judgment was negotiated and made) and not its registered office. The branch manager, at all relevant times, was able to give a receipt for the debt.

Held: (1) The address of the creditor set out in the bankruptcy notice was sufficient. The loan the subject of the agreement was negotiated and made at the address and the branch manager, during the relevant period, was able to give a receipt for the debt.

Re Persse (1911), 55 Sol. Jo. 314, referred to.

Semble, any address where the creditor company carried on business in Australia would suffice, and the ability of someone at the address to give a receipt for the debt, without the necessity for authority to agree to a composition or security, would suffice.