Australians are experiencing fewer financial crises, new personal insolvency statistics have revealed, The Adviser reported. There were 6,888 personal insolvency incidents in the December 2014 quarter, according to the Australian Financial Security Authority. That marked an 8.1 per cent decline on the December 2013 quarter. Debt agreements climbed 2.5 per cent to 2,655, with South Australia and the Northern Territory reaching all-time highs.

While Australia’s commodities boom was running hot, it wasn’t only mining companies that benefited from the billions of dollars in investment pouring into the country. Airlines got a boost, too, The Wall Street Journal reported. That has changed as slumping commodity prices and reduced investment prompt fewer builders and pit-workers to travel to remote mine sites. The result: several operators of smaller aircraft, such as lightweight jets and turboprops, are going bust, while others are warning of a severe hit to profits.

Troubled regional carrier Skytrans has been put in voluntary administration as company executives seek to find work for laid off staff, The Courier Mail reported. illiam Fletcher and Tracy Lee Knight of Brisbane-based Bentleys Chartered Accountants have been appointed administrators of the Cairns-based carrier with a formal notice to be issued to creditors later this week. The administrators were unavailable for comment yesterday.

Pie Face, the fast food franchise placed in voluntary administration last month, looks set to survive following a deal struck with creditors at a meeting in Sydney, Business Insider reported. Fairfax Media reports that suppliers who are unsecured creditors will receive as little as 14 cents in the dollar owed and will wait two years for payment as part of the deal.

A drop in iron-ore prices has humbled resource-rich Western Australia, and turned a part of Perth where mining companies are based into something of a ghost town as offices lie empty, The Wall Street Journal reported. With its mineral abundance, the state helped steer Australia around a recession in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Western Australia has always seen itself as different, so sure of its importance to the national economy that it has threatened—just half in jest—to break away and join industrializing Asia, which buys its resources.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group on Thursday announced measures to ease financial burden on drought-hit farmers in Queensland and New South Wales states, bowing to government pressure to stop farm foreclosures. Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce issued an ultimatum to the country's major banks, telling them to stop throwing drought-stricken farmers off their properties or risk government intervention, the Australian newspaper reported.

A 25-year-old solar energy company has collapsed into voluntary administration, letting go a number of staff, but administrators say proposals on the table to recapitalise the business could offer the company a lifeline. CBD Energy is the latest in a long string of solar companies to fold this year, with commentators labelling the industry a “roller coaster” market. A second meeting of creditors will be held next week on December 19, with Grant Thornton Australia’s Trevor Mark Pogroske and Said Jahani acting as administrators, after being appointed on November 14.

Australia’s major banks should set aside more capital to ensure they can survive a repeat of the global financial crisis, a government-backed review recommended on Sunday, the International New York Times reported. Bank executives have been bracing for the Financial System Inquiry report for months, arguing that higher levels of capital are unnecessary and would come at a cost to the economy.

Australian food franchise Pie Face has collapsed into voluntary administration. In a statement released to SmartCompany, the Pie Face Group confirmed Jirsch Sutherland has been appointed as administrators. However, Pie Face said it is “business as usual” as the administrators conduct a review of the chain’s operations. “The move comes as part of a wider company review, which will see the company focus on supporting the growth of its franchise-operated stores as well as the wholesale business,” Pie Face said. “The international businesses are not affected”.

The parent company of Australia’s largest privately owned milk processing company, United Dairy Power (UDP) has been placed in receivership after its banker moved to remove its board and appoint a new CEO to manage its debts, The Australian reported. Insolvency firm PPB and the dairy company’s financier, Rabobank, appointed Marcus Derwin as managing director of Five Star United Food — which controls UDP — last week on the same day the dairy company was placed in receivership.