Is and is not
A noticeboard of claims, not a list of owners
The PPSR is
- Open to the public online, as a kind of noticeboard for security interests over personal property.
- The place a secured party goes to tell everyone else about the claim it says it holds.
- National. It began on 30 January 2012 and took over from many state-based registers, the REVS vehicle register and ASIC’s register of company charges among them.
- Something to check before you buy property or lend against it.
The PPSR is not
- A record of who owns what. Its guidance says ownership alone is not a reason to register; a registration needs a security interest behind it.
- Used for land, buildings, fixtures, water rights or licences issued by government, taxi licences for one.
- A remedy for an unpaid bill for labour or services alone. Where goods were supplied, it can help with those goods.
- Open to claims with no agreement behind them. A debt by itself doesn’t create a registrable interest.
Security interests
What makes a security interest
In the PPSR’s explanation, a security interest comes from an agreement both sides entered into willingly, usually a contract, under which property secures a debt being repaid or an obligation being met. Familiar forms include a car loan secured on the car, hire purchase, a security agreement over a company’s assets, goods supplied on credit with title kept until payment, and leases.
“Personal property” is broad. It takes in nearly everything other than land, buildings and fixtures, from vehicles, livestock and stock in trade to equipment, artworks and intellectual property.
Who uses it
Who registers
Anyone may register, though in practice it is whoever holds the security interest, known as the secured party: typically a lender, a business that supplied goods on credit, a lessor, or someone who handed over goods to be sold on consignment.
Registration is a choice. The PPSR’s point is that without it, a supplier whose customer becomes insolvent is likely to rank as an unsecured creditor, behind secured creditors, who are generally paid first.
Who searches
- Buyers, before paying for something that might still secure another person’s debt.
- Lenders, before lending money to someone.
- Someone weighing up a business partner, to see whether that person’s assets already secure other debts.
- Insolvency practitioners, looking for the creditors who hold security.
- A business checking itself before it asks for finance, to see what is registered against it.
As at October 2026
What it costs
The PPSR’s fees are set under the Personal Property Securities (Fees) Determination 2018 and are not subject to GST. A selection from its fees table, as read on 8 October 2026:
| Service | Online | Contact centre |
|---|---|---|
| A search | $2.00 | $7.00 |
| A search certificate, new or a copy | No fee | No fee |
| Registering an interest that lasts up to 7 years | $6.00 | Not offered |
| Registering an interest that lasts over 7 and up to 25 years | $25.00 | Not offered |
| Registering an interest with no end date | $115.00 | Not offered |
| Ending a registration | No fee | Not offered |
On the register
Where the PPSR meets your own register
Two columns in a business’s own register point at the PPSR. The first is for assets you bought: if equipment or a vehicle was financed, a lender may have a security interest registered over it. A search when you buy, kept with the asset’s line, is your record of what you checked. AR-0005 walks through a search for a used car.
The second is for goods you hire out, lease or supply on credit. The PPSR’s guidance is that a hire contract alone may not protect you, and that a registration makes it more likely you recover the equipment if the customer fails. It also stresses upkeep: a registration that has lapsed or is wrong gives no protection, and one should be ended once the interest is over.
A statutory officer, the Registrar of Personal Property Securities, runs the register from within the Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA), part of the Treasury portfolio.