The role of the Registrar

The role of the Registrar of Personal Property Securities is to manage the operation of the PPSR and to ensure its availability for public use.

The PPSR is a centralised online register managed by the Companies Office, and is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Registrar is appointed under section 136 of the Personal Property Securities Act 1999 and is required to maintain the PPSR in accordance with the Act and the Personal Property Securities Regulations 2001.

The Registrar of Personal Property Securities is also the Registrar of Companies.

How the Registrar provides searching and registration services

If you want to conduct a search or register a financing statement on the PPSR, you need to be a registered user. Alternatively, you can engage an agent to act on your behalf.

Companies Office staff are not able to register or maintain financing statements, or conduct searches of the register for you.

It's not the Registrar's role to resolve disputes

From time to time we receive requests for help in resolving disputes between secured parties and debtors or people with an interest in items of collateral included in financing statements. Some of the more common calls include requests to update the register where:

• A debtor has repaid their debt but the financing statement has not been discharged
• A debtor or another interested party believes that the secured party does not hold a security interest over the collateral described so has no grounds for registering the financing statement.

It is not the Registrar’s role to resolve these types of disputes. The secured party is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of its financing statement registrations.

If you're the debtor – or an interested party – and you believe there's a problem with a financing statement:

• In the first instance you should contact the secured party with a written notice asking them to put it right.
• If the secured party fails to respond to this written notice within 15 working days, the debtor or an interested party can lodge a ‘change demand’.

Read more about change demands.

Any time you're unsure how the Personal Property Securities Act 1999 (PPSA) affects you, we recommend that you seek professional advice.