Should creditors access company pre-appointment records without a court order?

Prior to the ILRA creditors had limited rights to inspect the records of the liquidator (post-appointment) and the company in liquidation (pre-appointment).

Section 486 governed pre-appointment records and required the Court to make an order for creditors to inspect same. Section 531 allowed creditors to inspect the liquidators' post-appointment minutes and receipts and payments.

The ILRA introduced a much broader right for creditors to require production of records (IPS 70-45 and 70-55) and repealed Section 531 (but not Section 486) so many assumed this applied to post-appointment records only. In DEWR v Rathner as liquidator of Mentor Education Pty Ltd (in liqu) [2025] FCA 1291, the Court has clarified that the new provisions apply to both pre- and post-appointment records.

Given that producing pre-appointment records can often be time consuming and expensive, should creditors be allowed such access without a court order?