Many of you will recall that in previous Alerts we have advised you regarding the proposed adoption of wide ranging reforms to personal property securities law in Australia.
In order for the Commonwealth Government to pass its proposed
personal property securities legislation, it needs the States to
refer certain powers to it. New South Wales has been the first
State to pass the necessary referral legislation, with the Personal
Property Securities (Commonwealth Powers) Act 2009 being passed
yesterday. That Act is now awaiting assent. When that Act receives
assent, the Commonwealth Parliament may pass its legislation
without waiting for any other State to pass referral legislation.
At this stage, we do not know the timing for the other States to
introduce the referral legislation or for the Commonwealth to
introduce the substantive PPS legislation.
The New South Wales Act attaches a copy of the form of the
Commonwealth legislation. We are currently analysing the changes
between the terms of that legislation and the last draft previously
made available to the public and subjected to review by the Senate
Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. Given that
the Senate Standing Committee recommended significant changes to
the earlier draft legislation we expect that there will be a number
of changes as compared to the earlier draft legislation. We will
issue another Alert in relation to the changes made once our review
is completed.
As the referral legislation has now been passed in New South Wales
there is very little scope (if any) for any further amendments to
be made to the substantive PPS legislation before it is passed by
the Commonwealth Parliament.
You will also recall from reading our March 2009 Alert that the
proposed commencement date for the new legislation was May 2010.
While the Senate Standing Committee in its 19 March 2009 report
recommended that the implementation date be extended by at least 12
months, the Commonwealth Government has not advised whether this
date will change. We will issue another Alert as soon as any
further information on the commencement date becomes available.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.