Take heed from the lessons learnt during the collapse of Ansett Australian - most people with reward tickets issued by AN were basically SOL and had to get back home on their own expense, except for a few cases of the operating airlines honouring the ticket out of goodwill gesture.

If - and it would seem to be a rather academic discussion at the moment - the issuing carrier goes bust, then you are entirely reliant on the goodwill of the operating airline and/or travel insurance to get you there and back.