Debt and customs flagging

[Taezar]

Hey guys.
While I was looking for my passport, a friend called and asked what I was doing for Easter - I explained the whole passport debacle, but they said if I can find it they would come with me to AKL.
I asked about their debt problem - cause he was in debt (badly) last year. Well he isn't paying it at the moment which is why he can travel (my ethical thoughts on whether he should travel is a whole other thing).
I may be wrong, but I am pretty sure that customs will stop someone with bad debt when they return into Australia. Am I just confusing my memory with a bad TV show? I think I recall an old uni friend having to go to Tulla to represent someone who was stopped for deliquent debts.
Can anyone shine a light for me?
Please and thankyou
Taez
XOXO

 

[Mal]

From memory (and don't trust this!).

- Debt is fine. If debt was a problem, then 95% of Australians wouldn't be allowed to leave the country!
- Where there are dramas is if the person's affairs are under a Bankruptcy Administrator, they have a Part X debt agreement or they have certain judgements against them.

So, if the friend is just in the usual "can't pay, have an arrangement with the creditor to pay them back on a repayment basis", then I don't believe there are any issues. If in Bankruptcy, or have had court judgements against them then they need to seek further advice.

 

[V1213]

A scan of the Customs website seems to indicate that travellers may have problems if they have a debt to the ATO, but there appears to be little easy to find information about debt to other entities.

 

[thewinchester]

There's nothing on the outbound passenger card that you have to declare you are in debt, and if you were the subject of a court order relating to your movements/travel, or debt to a federal agency this information would be flagged against your passport under federal data matching rules.

So, if none of this applies then I would suggest there is no legal prohibition from him leaving Australia.

 

[drron]

From memory (and don't trust this!).

- Debt is fine. If debt was a problem, then 95% of Australians wouldn't be allowed to leave the country!
- Where there are dramas is if the person's affairs are under a Bankruptcy Administrator, they have a Part X debt agreement or they have certain judgements against them.

So, if the friend is just in the usual "can't pay, have an arrangement with the creditor to pay them back on a repayment basis", then I don't believe there are any issues. If in Bankruptcy, or have had court judgements against them then they need to seek further advice.

Don't worry,your memory is fine.