Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

BANKRUPTCY ACT 1966 - SECT 129

  (1)   The trustee shall forthwith take possession of all the property of the bankrupt capable of manual delivery, including all deeds, books and documents of the bankrupt.

  (2)   The Court may, on the application of the trustee, enforce possession accordingly.

  (3)   A person is not entitled, as against the trustee, to withhold possession of the books of account or any papers or documents of the bankrupt relating to the accounts or to any of the examinable affairs of the bankrupt or to claim any lien on any such papers or documents.

  (4)   If a person has in his or her possession or power any moneys or security that he or she is not by law entitled to retain as against the bankrupt or the trustee, he or she shall pay or deliver the moneys or security to the trustee.

  (4A)   Where:

  (a)   moneys are payable to a person under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory;

  (b)   that person is a bankrupt or the moneys are payable to the person as the legal personal representative of a person who was at the time of his or her death a bankrupt; and

  (c)   the moneys constitute property divisible amongst the creditors of the bankrupt or the deceased bankrupt, as the case may be;

those moneys shall, upon demand by the trustee, be paid to the trustee notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in that law.

  (4B)   A demand under subsection   (4A) shall be in accordance with the approved form.

  (4C)   A payment made in pursuance of a demand under subsection   (4A) is, to the extent of the amount paid, a valid discharge to the person making the payment as against the bankrupt or the estate of the deceased bankrupt, as the case may be.

  (5)   A person who does not pay or deliver to the trustee any moneys or security that he or she is required by subsection   (4) or (4A) so to pay or deliver is guilty of contempt of court.

  (6)   If the person so failing to pay or deliver any moneys or security is a corporation, both the corporation and each officer of the corporation who is responsible for the non - compliance are guilty of contempt of court.