VIQ Australia to wind down after sale process fails

VIQ Solutions’ Australian subsidiaries are headed for an orderly wind down, less than three months after the Canadian-listed transcription technology company placed its local operations into voluntary administration amid mounting losses and concerns over continuity of court transcript services.

The update marks a significant shift in the administration of VIQ Australia Pty Ltd, VIQ Solutions Pty Ltd, VIQ Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, VIQ Pty Ltd and VIQ Australia Services Pty Ltd, which entered voluntary administration in March 2026.

Robert Smith and Keith Crawford of McGrathNicol were appointed voluntary administrators on 16 March. At the time, VIQ Solutions said the appointment followed a strategic review of its Australian division, citing a challenging operating environment and ongoing losses that had weighed on group performance.

The administration attracted broader attention because VIQ’s Australian operations provide transcription services to Australia’s federal courts, making continuity of service a priority for court users, government agencies and other stakeholders. Local reporting also connected the administration to deeper concerns about transcript backlogs, contractor payment issues, workforce disruption and a security breach involving offshore access to sensitive court materials.

The administrators first engaged with key stakeholders to establish continuity of vital services. Once the business was stabilised, they launched a sale or recapitalisation process on 20 March.

That process has now failed to produce a transaction. VIQ said it has received notice from the administrators that the sale or recapitalisation process was unsuccessful and that they will begin taking steps to conduct an orderly wind down of the Australian business. The parent company said it does not expect to receive any proceeds from the administration of VIQ Australia.

The wind down effectively closes off the prospect, at least through the administration process, of a going-concern rescue or recapitalisation of the Australian division. It also leaves unresolved the practical question of how court transcription services previously supported by VIQ Australia will be transitioned, maintained or replaced as the business is wound down.

Read the update here.