The Personal Property Securities Act (PPSA, the Act) 2009 (Cth), in force from January 2012, established a national PPS register and a new regime for creation, legal effect and enforcement of security interests in personal property in Australia. In doing so, it introduced a single, national set of rules in a federal state. While unique in some areas, it is broadly based on principles developed and implemented in the United States, Canada and New Zealand.

The Act provided for a statutory review to be concluded three years after its commencement. The review was announced on 4th April 2014 and commissioned to Mr Bruce Whittaker, who laid the final report before the Senate on 18th March 2015. The two-stage review process saw 4 consultation papers, an interim report and in total 80 responses submitted from industry organisations, individual businesses, law firms, law societies, academics and government bodies representing relevant interests. The report includes 394 recommendations suggesting improvements to the Act and the PPS register as well as identifying areas where changes are not recommended or where further consultation is needed.

Material:

On the Australian PPSA

Main website: http://www.ppsr.gov.au/Pages/ppsr.aspx

L. Gullifer and V. Barns-Graham, The Australian PPS reforms: what will the new system look like  (2010) 4 Law and Financial Markets Review 394

D. Loxton, “The Australian Personal Property Securities Act: the net closes on quasi-securities” (2011) 6 JIBFL 359

A. Duggan and D. Brown, Australian Personal Property Securities Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, Australia 2012)

On the Review of the Australian PPSA (Final Report)