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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 production of 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, Chief Executive Officer of VIQ Solutions, Larry Taylor, said the decision to appoint administrators was in part due to a “challenging business environment in Australia”.
The ABC sighted documents that showed hundreds of court files, which were supposed to be completed in February, were still stuck in a work queue.
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.
The ABC understands administrators have held urgent meetings with the federal court entity responsible for overseeing the transcription service and the Commonwealth contract.
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.