Personal insolvencies are heading steadily upwards, reaching levels not seen since the depths of the financial crisis a decade ago.  Statistics for the 2017/18 financial year, released by the Australian Financial Security Authority, show this was the third consecutive annual rise. In more precise terms, there were 31,859 new personal insolvencies in Australia in 2017/18, an increase of 5.6 per cent compared to 2016/17. Total personal insolvencies have risen for three consecutive years but remain almost 5,000 below the record level set in 2009/10.Debt agreements tracked by AFSA increased to an annual record of 14,834 in 2017/18, a 9.1 per cent increase over 2016/17, making this the sixth consecutive annual rise for this category. There were record levels of debt agreement in all states and territories except Tasmania over the past financial year.Bankruptcies increased by 3.0 per cent, although reached less than two-thirds of the record level of 27,520 set in 2008/09.Annual levels of personal insolvency agreements are far less important, with small numbers, compared to the other types of personal insolvency. There were 214 personal insolvency agreements in 2017/18 During the quarter ended 30 June 2018, personal insolvencies in Australia headed towards 8,200, a rise of 7.4 per cent over the previous comparable quarter. In the June 2018 quarter, almost 18 per cent of new debtors entered a business related personal insolvency. AFSA commented that, "where we could identify a specific cause, 'economic conditions' (363 debtors) was the most common business related cause; and 'excessive use of credit' (2,407 debtors) was the most common non-business related cause."