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Friday 30 September 2016

Progress of the PPSR Review Report

It's been around 18 months since Bruce Whittaker's final report of the Review of the Personal Property Securities Act was tabled in parliament.  The report made a little under 400 recommendations concerning ways in which the PPSR could be improved - many of which involved substantial simplifications to the registration process.

So, in the absence of any update as to progress in following up the report's recommendations I decided to write to the Attorney General's Department to ask how things were progressing.  In truth, I had almost forgotten I'd done so, but, this afternoon, I received a reply.

I reproduce the body of the reply, in full, below (drafting errors included), but first I'll show you my original request, and leave it to you to judge to what extent the response addresses the request.

My request:

It's been about 18 months since Bruce Whittaker's Final Report of the Review of the Personal Property Securities Act was tabled in Parliament.   
I'd like to know what progress has been made since that time in moving to implement its recommendations, both legislatively and operationally.  I'd also appreciate an indication as to the timetable for implementation.


The AGD's response:

Dear Mr Miller,
  
Thank you for your enquiry regarding the progress of the independent statutory review (the Review) of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (the Act). The Review makes 394 recommendations aimed at reducing complexity and improving the accessibility of both the Act and the Personal Property Securities Register and includes number of recommendations which would reduce the regulatory burden on the equipment hire industry.
  
The Government is working towards implementation of these reforms while ensuring that the rights and interests of all parties are given due consideration. Reform to the Act will have an economy-wide impact and must be executed with due care and diligence. The Act carefully balances the rights of secured parties, lessors and financiers on the one hand, against those of grantors, lessees and borrowers on the other. The response to the Review must be progressed as a comprehensive package rather than in an ad hoc fashion, if it is to achieve the aim of reductions in complexity and regulatory burden without prejudicing the interests of any party.
  
The Attorney-General’s Department hopes to be in a position to provide information about implementation time frames in the near future.
 Thank you again for your enquiry.