Gates were locked at some sites in Brisbane on Sunday after the voluntary administrators were appointed to seven construction businesses within the St Hilliers group.
The firm’s property development and investment division,St Hilliers Property,remains unaffected by the construction arm’s collapse.
Data from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission shows,from July 1 to mid-January,the highest number of reports for insolvencies were in the construction industry,about 28 per cent.
Matthew Smith,a partner from law firm Clyde&Co,said that insolvencies hit an all-time high last financial year,but the worst may be over with green shoots “on the horizon”.
“Despite high interest rates and inflationary pressures,green shoots of recovery for the Australian construction sector will continue to push through in 2024,” Smith said.
“Insolvencies in the sector – which hit an all-time high in the 2022-2023 fiscal year – will slow down in 2024,although some subcontractors that are disproportionately affected by inflation and high interest rates may go under in the next 12 months.”
This is the second time in more than a decade that St Hilliers,founded in 1989,has called in administrators. In May 2012,the construction business was hit with a dispute over the funding for the then $350 million expansion of the Ararat prison in regional Victoria.