The Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) is a national online noticeboard of security interests, which are debts or other obligations secured by personal property.
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A person may register a security interest they have over property such as:
Personal property that may not be registered on the Personal Property Securities Register includes land, buildings, water rights and government-issued licences such as taxi licences.
The PPSR allows a party to search for whether personal property is being used as security for a debt or other obligation, and allows a secured creditor to enforce their rights if a debtor becomes insolvent.
There have been more than 20 million registrations created on the PPSR since it began in 2012. Created under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act), it was designed to establish a single national regime to govern security interests, one which could overcome the complexity of having commonwealth, state and territory laws, common law and equity rules all governing such interests.
A security interest under the Act means “an interest in personal property provided for by a transaction that, in substance, secures payment or performance of an obligation (without regard to the form of the transaction or the identity of the person who has title to the property)”.
A security interest includes a mortgage, a hire purchase agreement, a consignment, a lease, or a transfer of title.
Generally, the “secured party”, such as the lender, lessor, or consignor, makes the registration.
The Act requires the secured party to “attach” and “perfect” that interest.
Attachment usually occurs when the parties enter an agreement that creates the security interest.
Perfecting a security interest involves registration on the PPSR but can also include possession or control of the property.
Having only title or ownership of a property may not offer protection if there is a subsequent dealing with that property; if a security interest is not perfected, the secured party will be treated as an unsecured creditor if an insolvency arises.
The Act contains provisions that dictate priorities when there are security interests competing for the same property. These include that:
When a security interest becomes an unidentifiable part of a larger product or mass, the interest in the original goods continues in the product or mass.
A Purchase Money Security Interest (PMSI) is generally money lent or credit given to a party to fund all or part of the purchase of the personal property.
This may be, for example, a secured loan, or the supply of goods on credit.
Registration of a PMSI gives that interest priority over other security interests in the same property, even if those interests were registered on the PPSR first.
An online search generates a certificate stating the result.
If a PPSR search has already been done on the property, the result can be obtained for free (instead of $2), but the result will be from when the original search was done, not the current time.
The PPSR is administered by the Registrar of Personal Property Securities. The registrar is responsible for ensuring the register is managed responsibly, made available and contains reliable information.
Day-to-day operations are conducted by the Australian Financial Security Authority Service Centre.
A search for a vehicle on the PPSR will provide additional information from the National Exchange of Vehicle and Driver Information System. This includes the vehicle’s written-off status, stolen status, registration details, and its make, model, and colour.
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