By Grant Parker
After several false starts, the Personal Property Security
Act 2009 (Cth) (PPSA) and Personal Property Security Register
(PPSR) came into effect on 30 January 2012. They regulate the
creation, registration and enforcement of security interests over
personal property. Almost one year on, it is worth examining the
impact these laws have had.
Background
The national reforms replaced more than 70 different
Commonwealth, state and territory Acts. Importantly for agencies,
the PPSA is binding on the Crown in each of its capacities.
The PPSA is radically different to the previous common law and
legislation applicable to obtaining security over personal
property. It fundamentally alters the law of security interests,
adopting a substance over form approach to defining a security
interest. It is based on similar legislation enacted in Canada and
New Zealand. As a result of those similarities there is a body of
case law, commentary, precedents and
