Section 51 of the Constitution states: The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to: :(xvii) bankruptcy and insolvency; The first Commonwealth
Bankruptcy Act was not passed until 1924. The bankruptcy jurisdiction was exercised by state courts. In proposing the establishment of the Federal Court of Bankruptcy, the
Attorney-General,
Frank Brennan, said that it was necessary because the number of bankruptcy cases had been increasing due to the
Great Depression and the 1929 decision of the
High Court, which held that the arrangement in relation to registrars in bankruptcy was invalid. The federal court would have one judge and it was anticipated that judge would sit primarily in Sydney and Melbourne as they were the courts with the highest case load. When the court was established it was constituted by a single judge,
Lionel Lukin. When he was ill the Chief Judge of the
Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration,
George Dethridge, was appointed to the court to deal with any urgent matters. The court remained constituted by a single judge until 1973 when a second judge was appointed. The court rarely sat outside of Sydney and Melbourne. Any appeal was directly to the High Court. The establishment of a Federal Court was proposed in 1967, however it was not until 1977 that the Federal Court was established, incorporating the jurisdiction of the
Commonwealth Industrial Court and the Federal Bankruptcy Court. Both judges of the Federal Bankruptcy Court were appointed to the new Federal Court. The Federal Bankruptcy Court, despite having no jurisdiction or cases, continued in existence until the last judge had retired in 1995. ==List of judges==