VIQ Solutions sent Australian court files to India, then administrators shut it down

VIQ Solutions Australia supplied transcripts for the family and federal courts, the South Australian Employment Tribunal, and courts and tribunals in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. Early in 2026 the ABC revealed that sensitive court files were being transcribed in India, in breach of the company's multi-million-dollar government contract.

Administrators McGrathNicol were called in on 16 March, four weeks after the breach became public, to assess whether the business was viable. On 5 June the ABC reported that VIQ's Canadian parent had been told the sale or recapitalisation process was unsuccessful and that the administrators would 'conduct an orderly wind down' of the Australian business. Senate estimates had heard the previous week that almost 150 court matters were caught up in the breach, though the exact number of potentially compromised cases could not be verified because the Canadian parent had not cooperated.

The ABC understood all court transcribers were to be made redundant and that no further transcript orders would be accepted through the company's portal. One anonymous transcriber said staff had no renewed contracts or reassurances from the courts. The Federal Court said it was working on contingency arrangements with a panel of on-shore transcript providers and in-house transcriptionists.

The company had work done in India, which the ABC reported breached its government contract.

Its parent company in Canada did not cooperate with court representatives trying to establish which cases were exposed, per the Senate estimates evidence the ABC cited.

The sale or recapitalisation sought by the administrators failed, so no buyer took over the contract.

VIQ was a monopoly provider across many courts, so its exit left no ready replacement, according to Greens senator David Shoebridge.

If a contract says data stays onshore, offshoring the work to cut costs puts the whole contract at risk, and a provider that dominates a market can fail with its customers still dependent on it.

The Federal Court said it was taking 'all necessary steps' to control court data and recordings, would store audio of recent and upcoming hearings for alternative transcribers, and would publish new arrangements 'in due course'. Lawyers warned that delayed transcripts could be devastating for cases. Senator Shoebridge called for the contract's overseers to explain their due diligence at Senate Estimates and for a permanent public transcription service.