Figures released yesterday by the Australian Financial Security Authority show that total personal insolvencies fell 4.3 per cent in the year to June, compared with 2012/13.The number of bankruptcies fell 10.9 per cent to 18,892, while the number of debt agreements rose 10.9 per cent to 10,706. The number of personal insolvency agreements fell 32.1 per cent to 211.Reforms to the Bankruptcy Act in 2007 made it easier for people to enter debt agreements as an alternative to bankruptcy. A debt agreement allows debtors to provide a plan for paying outstanding debts over a number of years. Lenders may forego some of the debt.While consumer groups have argued that some debtors would be better off going into bankruptcy, the government has promoted the use of debt agreements as a way of getting people back on their feet sooner than a bankruptcy would allow.Credit repair companies and administrators have also promoted debt agreements as a better way of dealing with a personal financial crisis.AFSA said that in bankruptcies the repayment rate was 8.4 cents for every dollar owned, while in debt agreements the repayment rate was 58.9 cents.