Circus performers from Russia and Brazil are stranded in a regional Victorian city after the company behind the Great Moscow Circus went into liquidation.
Ticket-holders in Ballarat were only told hours before Wednesday's show that it would not go ahead, with many unsure whether they would get refunds.
But liquidator Morgan Chubb of Clout & Associates said any ticket-holders who applied for a refund would get one within seven days because ticketing was run by an external agency.
The demise of the circus's promoter Edgley Attractions late on Monday was a shock for its workers, particularly the show's 13 international performers.
GMC general manager Shane Lennon says administrators told performers to speak with the government about getting their wages and to organise their own flights home.
Mr Lennon says the workers were sponsored by Edgley Attractions to come to Australia but they will now have to sleep in the showgrounds and rely on their Australian colleagues for support.
But Mr Chubb told AAP that "all options are being explored to ensure they are returned home".
"If there is likely to be a delay in employees receiving their entitlements from the liquidation, then the government has a scheme that works faster ... and it has been suggested that the employees claim along those lines," he said on Thursday.
The Adelaide show will go ahead in some way after Mr Lennon's company, Hudsons Circus, which was running logistics for Edgley for the GMC tour, announced it would fill the slot.
Animal activists PETA said the closure of the circus shows public tastes have moved away from circuses that use animals.
"We hope that the (animals) ... who were forced to travel and perform night after night will now be rehomed to a sanctuary, where they'll never be made to do confusing tricks again," PETA Australia's Ashley Fruno said in a statement.
