VIQ Solutions Australia placed into voluntary administration, court transcriptions services in limbo
VIQ Solutions were responsible for court transcripts around the country, including the Federal Circuit and Family Court. (ABC News: Millie Roberts, Patrick Thomas)
Four weeks after the ABC revealed sensitive court files were being accessed offshore in a potential risk to national security, the company responsible for the breach has entered into voluntary administration.
Administrators McGrathNicol were called in on Monday to urgently assess the viability of VIQ Solutions Australia — the company responsible for daily court transcripts across the country.
VIQ was facing potential penalties under its Commonwealth contractual obligations and reputational damage after the ABC revealed a company in India had accessed thousands of Australian court files.
In a statement, VIQ Solutions chief executive officer Larry Taylor said the decision to appoint administrators was in part due to a "challenging business environment in Australia".
"We will support the administrator to ensure that the business of VIQ Australia continues to operate without disruption, given that VIQ Australia supports critical functions of the Australian courts and law enforcement," Mr Taylor said.
Legal practitioners are concerned further delays to court transcripts will impact court cases. (ABC News: Patrick Thomas)
However, VIQ contractors told the ABC that since the offshore security breach was revealed some staff had been locked out of their work portals and were unable to regain access, preventing them from working.
Others said they were owed thousands of dollars in back pay and entitlements, and that they were being asked to do jobs outside their training and expertise.
Some staff told the ABC they had taken their concerns to the Fair Work Commission.
Backlog of hundreds of court files
The ABC has seen documents that showed hundreds of court files, which were supposed to be completed in February, were stuck in a work queue.
"If clients expected and paid for their work to be delivered on February 18 and it is still sitting waiting to be reviewed and dispatched, I think that's appalling and downright disrespectful to the court,"one contractor said.
Another contractor, owed more than $8,000 in back pay, told the ABC she was "sickened with stress" by the decision to appoint administrators.
In February, an ABC investigation found VIQ Solutions had subcontracted work to e24 Technologies — a company based in Chennai, India that specialises in automated voice-to-text technology — in breach of its Commonwealth contract, and without notifying the courts.
At the time, lawyers and litigants had also raised concerns about erroneous and costly court transcripts, missing dialogue and misattribution, as well as delays.
Solicitor Hayder Shkara says every delay could potentially put cases at risk. (ABC News: Briana Fiore)
Hayder Shkara, the director of Justice Family Lawyers, said if transcripts were further delayed, it could affect appeals and court proceedings.
"Delays are going to cause a massive stress both across the legal profession and with litigants," he said.
"Every delay could potentially put cases at risk."
The ABC understands administrators have held urgent meetings with the federal court entity responsible for overseeing the transcription service and the Commonwealth contract.
"We are urgently engaging with key stakeholders, including the Commonwealth and state governments, to establish continuity of vital services. Once the business is stabilised, we will be commencing a process to seek the sale or recapitalisation of VIQ Australia Group," McGrathNicol partner and administrator Rob Smith said in a statement.
'A slow-burning disaster'
Greens Senator David Shoebridge said the appointment of administrators was a "predictable" outcome after ongoing mismanagement of the Commonwealth contract.
Greens Senator David Shoebridge says he is concerned about the provision of justice. (AAP Images: James Gourley)
"We need the federal court entity and also the attorney-general to put their hand up and accept responsibility for this. This has been a slow burning disaster," he said.
"The administrator will do what's in the narrow interests of the shareholders and the owners of VIQ, but the real question is what's in the national interest for Australia?
"VIQ is close to a monopoly private provider of these services and our entire national court system is at peril."
VIQ Solutions was responsible for transcription services for the family and federal courts, the South Australian Employment Tribunal, as well as the courts and tribunals in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.
Senator Shoebridge said there were now concerns about the provision of justice for litigants in all of these jurisdictions.
"We cannot have our courts simply fall over," he said.
"This shows the real dangers for privatising essential public services and, in this case, privatising it and handing it off to a North American multi-national with no interest in the Australian national interest, with no commitment on the ground to ensuring that this core public service is up and running."
A spokesperson for the Federal Court of Australia Listed Entity said it was in urgent discussions with VIQ's administrators to maintain continuity of services.