Glossary

This refers to the different channels available to access the PPSR website (www.ppsr.gov.au) and via the Personal Property Securities Service (1300 00 PPSR, enquiries@ppsr.gov.au).

When you create a secured party group (SPG), you will be given a secured party group number and an access code which acts as a password. This information will be emailed to the person who is nominated during set-up of the SPG. This code can be changed (see example below).

An SPG access code is a unique 12-character alphanumeric identifier.  Any user who has the SPG number and access code can make changes to a registration (to view, modify and discharge), and access the SPG's workbench so it should only be provided to authorised users.

Example:  AccessCode1@

If you change your code it must:

• Not contain space characters
• Be 12 characters long
• Have at least one uppercase character
• Have at least one lowercase character
• Have at least one numeric character
• Have at least one of the following special characters: ]~@#^:;<>,.[()|\"`*$-+?_&=!%{}/

An account is not required to search the PPSR but can be useful to make payments quickly, retrieve previous searches and create reports on your usage of the PPSR. There is no charge to create an account.

A PPSR account enables you to:

• manage your transactions, e.g. searches and registrations
• provide access to multiple users
• choose payment method.

The account administrator, also referred to as the account system administrator, is the person who may manage users within an account for a PPS Register account customer. The account administrator has wide ranging roles and permissions to be able to make updates and changes to the account, including but not limited to:

• create users
• modify users
• resetting passwords
• unlocking users
• grant permissions (what transactions the user can perform), and
• remove users.

An account customer is a person or entity that has an account with the PPSR and is authenticated (logged in) to use the PPSR.

While it is not necessary to become an account customer to search the PPSR, an account is required if you need to create a Secured Party Group or a registration. There are benefits to being an account customer, including but not limited to:

• being able to see all transaction usage and obtain full transaction listing of their account
• being able to add multiple users to the account (delegated user management), and
• use approval functions for reviewing and approving pending registration applications.

An Australian Company Number (usually shortened to ACN) is a unique nine-character number issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to every company registered under the Commonwealth Corporations Act 2001 as an identifier. The number is usually printed in three groups of three digits.

If an entity with an ACN has an associated ABN, ARBN or ARSN you can search ABN Lookup using that ABN, ARBN or ARSN.

Example:

000 000 123

See the Australian Securities and Investments Commission website for more information about the ACN.

Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) manages the application of bankruptcy and personal property securities laws through the delivery of high quality personal insolvency and trustee, regulation and enforcement, and personal property securities services.

The ASC is AFSA’s contact centre that provides support to clients, information about how to access and use the PPSR and search services

As a collateral class, includes crops and livestock.

As a collateral class, includes:

• a machine or craft that can travel in the air and has a nationality and registration mark
• an aircraft engine
• an airframe, or
• a helicopter.

Aircraft engine means engines (other than those used in military, customs or police services), powered by jet propulsion or turbine or piston technology, and:

• in the case of jet propulsion aircraft engines, have at least 1750 lb of thrust or its equivalent, and
• in the case of turbine-powered or piston-powered aircraft engines, have at least 550 rated take-off shaft horsepower or its equivalent,

together with all modules and other installed, incorporated or attached accessories, parts and equipment.

See definition of aircraft engine' in the PPS Regulations.

Aircraft that is further described as aircraft engine must be described by serial number in a registration. The serial number for aircraft engine comprise of:

• the engine's manufacturer's number; that is, the serial number attached to the engine by the manufacturer
• the manufacturer's name, and
• the manufacturer's generic model description.

Airframe means airframe (other than those used in military, customs or police services) that, when appropriate aircraft engines are installed thereon, are certified by a competent aviation authority (in Australia, this is the Civil Aviation Safety Authority) to transport:

• at least eight (8) persons including crew, or
• goods in excess of 2750 kg,

together with all modules and other installed, incorporated or attached accessories, parts and equipment and data manuals.

See definition of 'airframe' in the PPS Regulations.

Aircraft that is further described as airframe must be described by serial number in a registration. The serial number for aircraft engine comprise of:

• the airframe's manufacturer's number, that is, the serial number attached to the airframe by the manufacturer
• the manufacturer's name, and
• the manufacturer's generic model description.

A collateral class registerable on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).

It includes all personal property over which the grantor has an interest both at the time a registration is made and after.

This is sometimes abbreviated to ‘AllPAAP’.

A collateral class registerable on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).

It includes all present and after-acquired property, except for any personal property of the grantor stated in the registration as being exempt.

This is sometimes abbreviated to ‘AllPAAP except’.

A written demand (authorised by the Act) from a person with an interest in the collateral, requesting the secured party amend its registration by registering a financing change statement, which may terminate the registration or omit certain collateral.

If the secured party does not amend the registration, the requestor may invoke a further procedure through the Registrar or the court.

ARBNs are issued to registrable Australian bodies and foreign companies. The ARBN is a unique nine digit identifier, usually printed in three groups of three digits, and no two bodies can have the same ARBN.

If an entity with an ARBN has an associated ABN, ACN, or ARSN you can search ABN Lookup using that ABN, ACN or ARSN.

See the Australian Securities Investments Commission (ASIC) website for more information about the ARBN.

Example:

000 000 123

ARFNs are issued to registered sub-funds that belong to a Corporate Collective Investment Vehicle (CCIV).

ARSNs are issued to Managed Investment Schemes. The ARSN is a unique nine digit identifier, usually printed in three groups of three digits, and no two bodies can have the same ARSN.

If an entity with an ARSN has an associated ABN, ACN or ARBN you can search ABN Lookup using that ABN, ARBN or ARSN.

See the Australian Securities Investments Commission (ASIC) website for more information about the ARSN.

Example:

000 000 123

Australian Securities and Investments Commission

See the Australian Securities Investments Commission (ASIC) website for more information.

• the successful creation of a security interest in property that can be enforced against that property

OR

• A document attached to historical registrations (including migrated registrations) which included additional details about the collateral.

Users are not able to include attachments on current registrations. The absence of an attachment does not alter the effectiveness of a registration.

The ABN is a unique 11 digit identifier issued to all entities registered in the Australian Business Register (ABR). It is used when dealing with government agencies (including the Australian Taxation Office) and other businesses.

An ABN can have a status of active or cancelled. A status of cancelled means the business has ceased trading. If an entity with an ABN has an associated ACN, ARBN or ARSN you can search ABN Lookup using that ACN, ARBN, ARSN or ARFN.

See the Australian Business Register website. for more information about ABNs.

Access the Australian Business Register's ABN Lookup.

Example:

63 384 330 717 (AFSA's ABN)

A register of information provided to the Australian Taxation Office by businesses and other entities when registering for an ABN.

Publicly available information on entities with an ABN is available publicly from the ABN Lookup website.

The PPS Register can be searched using either

• the serial number of the collateral (for example, the VIN of a motor vehicle), or
• the details of the grantor.

Where a search is undertaken against an individual grantor, the PPS Act requires that the search must be undertaken by a person with an authorised purpose (as set out in section 172 of the PPS Act).

Searching for an individual grantor without an authorised search purpose can attract serious penalties.

Valid reasons include when you:

• are searching on your own details
• have been given the person's consent to search using their details
• are considering providing credit to the individual
• are considering going into business with or investing in the individual
• have a security interest already over the individual's property
• need to check if there is a security interest registered against the individual's property
• have taken control of the person's property as a result of administration or bankruptcy.
• are the legal representative of the individual.

The range of IP addresses from which the B2G account customer interacts with the PPS Register.

A situation where a person (the bailee) is voluntarily in possession of goods belonging to another (the bailor) and therefore it's wider than a lease, but is covered by 'PPS lease' for situations where the bailor is regularly engaged in bailment transactions, and where the bailee gives value for the bailment.

For more information refer to the Leases and Bailment under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 fact sheet.

For account customers, PPSR transaction charges can be billed to an account and a monthly account statement will be issued.

According to section 10 of the PPS Act, business day means a day other than:

• a Saturday or a Sunday; or
• a day which is a public holiday for the whole of:
  • any State; or
  • the Australian Capital Territory; or
  • the Northern Territory; or
• a day that falls between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day; or
• a day on which the Registrar has refused access to the register, or otherwise suspended the operation of the register, in whole or in part (see subsection 147(5)); or
• a day that is prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition.

See the business days calculator for assistance calculating periods of business days. 

The Business to Government (B2G) channel is a way for businesses with a high volume of transactions to access the PPSR. 

For more information, see What is the B2G channel?

Someone who accesses the PPSR without creating an account. A casual user is only able to perform certain searches on the PPSR. You must create an account to create registrations.

A CCIV is similar to a managed investment scheme without a trust structure, made up of one or more sub-funds. A CCIV and its sub-funds are required to be registered with ASIC.

A unique sequential number that is allocated for certain transactions relating to a registration, including creation, amendment or discharge.

This is the type of change that generates a change number for a registration.

For non-registration events this is the type of change performed on the register.

A chassis number is a serial number used to identify a motor vehicle manufactured before 1989.

It is a series of numbers/letters attached to or stamped on a vehicle by its manufacturer.

You can usually find a chassis number in the engine bay or on the chassis itself.  

The chassis number may also appear on the vehicle registration papers. Please note, it is not the vehicle registration number.

Unlike a VIN, there is no standard number of digits for chassis numbers and they may not be unique.

A writing which evidences both a monetary obligation and a security interest in, or lease of, specific goods; for example, a hire-purchase agreement. It would not include a negotiable instrument, an investment instrument, an investment entitlement or a document of title.

The Convention on International Civil Aviation signed on 7 December 1944 in Chicago. The Chicago Convention establishes rules on the allocation of nationality and registration marks for aircrafts.

Under this Convention, Australia is assigned the nationality mark 'VH'. An example of a nationality and registration mark for an Australian aircraft is 'VH-WOV'.

Circuit layout refers to the original layout designs for integrated circuits and computer chips. Circuit layout rights are intangible personal property.

For the purposes of Part 9.5, has the meaning given in section 340 of the PPS Act.

Personal property that has a security interest attached to it as a result of an agreement between a grantor and a secured party. For example, property that can be taken by a lender if a loan is not repaid.

When making a registration on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR), the collateral must be described by a collateral class.

A set of categories used on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) to describe the collateral contained in a registration.

A registration must only relate to a single collateral class. It cannot be amended once a registration is completed.

The description of the collateral being registered on the PPS Register.

A registration of a financing statement on the PPS Register. In addition to details about the collateral, the registration also includes:

• details about the grantor (where relevant), or secured party
• details about the address for service (address to which correspondence relating to the registration must be sent)
• giving of notice identifier (see 'giving of notice identifier'), and
• details about the security interest (for example, whether it is a purchase money security interest or whether it is subordinate to another interest).

A unique identification number allocated by the system to a collateral registration at the time of registration.

A ‘commercial consignment’ is a consignment that meets additional defined criteria under the PPS Act. It is deemed to be a security interest even if it doesn’t meet the standard PPS Act definition of a security interest.

A consignment is traditionally recognised as an arrangement where a person (the consignor) delivers their property to another person (the consignee) so they can sell that property on their behalf.  A consignment is considered to be a ‘commercial consignment’ if:

1. the consignor still keeps an interest in the goods that they have delivered to the consignee; and
2. they have delivered those goods for the purpose of sale, lease or other disposal; and
3. the consignor and the consignee both deal in those types of goods in their ordinary course of business.

The two exceptions to this rule are consignments under which the goods are delivered to:

1. an auctioneer for the purpose of sale; or
2. a consignee, (for sale, lease or other disposal), if it is generally known to its creditors to be selling or leasing goods of others.

An interest of this type may be a PMSI. For more information, see the Purchase money security interests (PMSI) page

Commercial property is personal property that is not consumer property.

It is personal property that is held in the course or furtherance to any degree of carrying on an enterprise to which an ABN has been allocated.

The terms and conditions you must accept and adhere to, when using the PPSR.

Personal property held by an individual and not for any use in a business with a ABN.

See definition for 'consumer property' in section 10 of the PPS Act.

Control is one way of perfecting a security interest in controllable property.

See definition for 'control' in section 10 of the PPS Act.

Copyright is a type of legal protection for ideas and information in certain forms. The most common forms are: writings, visual images, music and moving images. Copyright is intangible personal property.

This refers to crops (whether matured or not and whether naturally grown or planted) that have not been harvested.

Examples of crops include:

• the products of agriculture or aquaculture, if the products have not been harvested, and
• trees (but only if they are personal property), if the trees have not been harvested.

Currency that is used as a medium of exchange in Australia or any other country.

A person, organisation, company or other entity who owes a debt.

Design relates to the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation which, when applied to a product, gives the product a unique appearance. Design is intangible personal property.

A registration that has passed its expiry date or has been removed from the PPS Register.

The length of time of a registration from the start time to the end time.

When you register a security interest, you will be asked to provide a duration for the registration.

The fee charged is related to the duration chosen and can be found on the fees page, under the Fees for financing statements heading.

The duration categories are:

• Seven years or less
• More than seven years but less than 25
• No stated end time

Registrations in respect to goods with a serial number, such as watercraft, are limited to a maximum of seven years in duration.

The end date of a registration. This is the date at which the registration expires.

Expiry will occur at the last moment of the nominated end date (that is, at 23:59:59 on the end date).

Financial Property is one of the four collateral class categories. It includes personal property such as currency, document of title, shares and cheques.

The information entered by a secured party when making changes to an existing registration on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).

The information entered by a secured party when making a registration on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).

The period in which a search result may be accessed without payment of a further fee.

Also known as GONI

This is your internal reference number that assists to identify your registration.

E.g your customer/client ID number, your account number or client reference number

As a secured party you can choose to enter a giving of notice identifier (GONI) on a PPSR registration which identifies a record of the registration for your secured party.

The giving of notice identifier, where it exists, must be included in correspondence to the secured party relating to that registration.

Goods means tangible personal property, including:

• crops
• livestock
• wool
• extracted minerals, and
• satellites and other space objects

but does not include financial property or an intermediated security.

An individual or an organisation who owns or has an interest in the personal property to which a security interest is attached.

A grantor includes an individual or an organisation who receives goods under a commercial consignment, a lessee under a PPS lease, and a transferor of an account or chattel paper.

Grantor identification or identifier refers to the details that are used to identify the grantor in a registration.

The rules for grantor identification are set out in the PPS Regulations.

In brief, the Regulations provide that where the grantor is an individual, the identifiers are to be sourced from the documents in this order:

• the current driver's licence issued by an Australian state or territory
• proof of age card issued by an Australian state or territory
• Australian passport
• Australian visa
• passport from country grantor usually resides, or
• details on birth certificate.

If the grantor is an organisation, different rules apply depending on whether the grantor is a body corporate, a partnership, trustee of a trust, or a body politic.

See the PPS Regulations for more information on the grantor identification rules.

'Groups', in relation to transactions that can be undertaken on the PPS Register by a user, refers to the logical grouping of roles for an account customer or internal organisation.

In relation to groups of secured parties, see SPG (secured party group).

Helicopter means machines (other than those used in military, customs or police services) lifted by power-driven rotors and which are certified by a competent authority (in Australia this is the Civil Aviation Safety Authority) to transport:

• at least five persons including crew, or
• goods in excess of 450 kg.

See definition of 'helicopter' in the Regulations.

Aircraft that is further described as helicopter must be described by serial number in a registration. The serial number for helicopter comprises:

• the helicopter's manufacturer's number; that is, the serial number attached to the helicopter by the manufacturer
• the manufacturer's name, and
• the manufacturer's generic model description.

A HIN is the nautical equivalent of the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) on your car. Most Australian boats will have a HIN attached or stamped into the hull. This is usually a 14 character alphanumeric code containing letters and numbers that identify the country, manufacturer, serial number and date of manufacture.

This is the type of identifier used for organisations (both grantors and secured parties), which includes the ABN, ACN, ARBN , ARSN and ARFN.

Access the Australian Business Register's ABN Lookup.

Intangible property, for the PPS Act and the PPS Register, means personal property that is not any of the following:

• financial property
• goods, or
• an intermediated security (see 'intermediated security').

See definition of 'intangible property' under section 10 of the PPS Act.

As a collateral class, includes rights in a design, patent, trade mark, copyright or circuit layout, or plant breeder's rights.

See definition of 'intellectual property' under section 10 of the PPS Act.

In relation to personal property, includes a right in the personal property.

Any individual or business entity that is interested in a specific collateral registration and/or information held on the PPS Register.

The Registrar or the Personal Property Securities Service.

Personal property used in the ordinary course of business by an entity with an ABN, including:

• property held for sale, or lease
• property held to be provided under a contract for services
• property held as raw materials or as work in progress, and
• property used or consumed as materials.

See definition of 'inventory' under section 10 of the PPS Act.

In general, this is a document such as a share certificate, promissory note, or bond, used as means to acquire equity capital or loan capital. Also called financing instrument.

Refers to certain financial products, including:

• a share in the body, or a debenture in a body
• a derivative
• a foreign exchange contract that is not a derivative
• an interest in, or a unit in an interest in, a managed investment scheme
• a unity in a share in a body, and
• a financial product traded on the financial market that is operated in accordance with an Australian market licence or exempt from the operation of Part 7.2 of the Corporations Act 2001;

but does not include:

• the creation or transfer of a right to payment in connection with interest in land (where the written evidence of the transfer does not specifically identify the land)
• a document of title
• an intermediated security, and
• a negotiable instrument.

See definition of 'investment instrument' under section 10 of the PPS Act.

IP Australia administers the Australian IP rights system, specifically patents, trade marks, designs and plant breeder's rights. See the IP Australia website for more information.

The key contact for a PPS Register account customer is the person who will be contacted if there are problems with the account.

Key contact details are not made available to the public.

Livestock is a sub-class of the Agriculture collateral class and includes:

• while they are alive – alpacas, cattle, fish, goats, horses, llamas, ostriches, poultry, sheep, swine and other animals
• the unborn young of animals mentioned in paragraph (a), and
• the products of livestock before they become proceeds (for example, the wool on a sheep's back before the sheep is shorn).

The identifying numbers/letters that are stamped or attached to an aircraft or motor vehicle by its manufacturer.

Fees are charged for some transactions undertaken on the PPS Register.

Methods of payment include:

• pay-as-you-go (fees paid by credit card as they are incurred – this is the default method)
• pre-payment (users credit money into their account, and this account is drawn down as transactions are being undertaken)
• invoicing (the account customer is sent an invoice for transactions undertaken during the invoice period).

Account customers may apply to the PPS Registrar's Office to use a different payment method (other than pay-as-you-go or pre-pay) for their account.

Security interests that have previously been registered in a transitional register prior to PPS Register registration commencement time, and which have been migrated to the PPS Register.

See definition for 'migrated security interest' in section 332 of the PPS Act.

The time at which data from transitional registers (registers of security interests in existence prior to the PPS registration commencement time, such as the ASIC charges register and state and territory registers of encumbered vehicles) are migrated to the PPS Register.

Usually a car, truck, motorbike, tractor, caravan or trailer.

A motor vehicle must have a vehicle identification number (VIN), chassis number or manufacturer’s number.

It is self-propelled property:

• built to travel wholly on land,
• capable of at least 10km/h, AND
• with one or more motors with total power greater than 200W.

It can also be:

• machinery or equipment with wheels built to be towed at more than 10km/h (e.g. a trailer).

If the property runs on rails, tram lines or other fixed path it is not defined as a motor vehicle.

Before 1 July 2014

The law changed on 1 July 2014 to narrow the definition of a motor vehicle.

 Under the old definition, a motor vehicle had to:

• be capable of at least 10km/h, OR
• have one or more motors that have a total power greater than 200W.

Under the new definition, a motor vehicle must have both of these characteristics.

For more information, see regulation 1.7 of the Personal Property Securities Regulations 2010.

Search by the prescribed order for motor vehicle serial numbers

When searching the PPSR by a motor vehicle serial number, make sure you enter the correct serial number. For example, if a motor vehicle has both a vehicle identification number (VIN) and a chassis number, you should search using the VIN. The PPSR provides guidance to help you enter the correct serial number.

A serial number search might not reveal all security interests

It is not compulsory for commercial security interests in serial numbered goods to be registered by serial number. The registration may be made against the grantor only. For example, a security interest in a commercial motor vehicle may be registered by reference to the grantor and contain no reference to its serial number, and therefore will only be revealed through a search by grantor.

Motor vehicle buyer protections

If the collateral is a motor vehicle, section 45 of the PPS Act provides that a buyer or lessee will generally take the motor vehicle free of any security interest if:

• at any time between the time the motor vehicle was sold or leased and the start of the previous day a search of the PPSR by reference only to the serial number would not have disclosed a registration which perfected the interest; and
• the seller or lessor is either the person who granted the security interest, or another person who is in possession of the vehicle (provided the person who granted the security interest has lost the right to possess the motor vehicle or is stopped from asserting an interest in the vehicle).

Exceptions to motor vehicle buyer protections

The above protection does not apply if:

• the secured party is in possession of the motor vehicle immediately before the time of the sale or lease; or
• the motor vehicle is bought at a sale held by or on behalf of an execution creditor; or
• the buyer or lessee holds the motor vehicle as inventory; or on behalf of a person who would hold the motor vehicle as inventory; or
• the buyer or lessee buys or leases the motor vehicle with actual or constructive knowledge of the security interest.

Exceptions for motor vehicle licensed dealers

Section 45(3) of the PPS Act provides that a buyer or lessee will generally take the motor vehicle free of any security interests if they provide new value for the motor vehicle and the seller or lessor holds a licence (issued by the state or territory where the sale or lease happens) to deal in that kind of motor vehicle.

Multi user accounts are PPS Register accounts that can have more than one user. The account administrator for such an account can create multiple users that can transact on behalf of the account.

The National Names Index (NNI) is an index of Australian corporate and registered business names and some incorporated associations. It is administered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

To search the NNI, go to the ASIC Searches and Lodgements web page or for more information about the NNI, see the Australian Securities and Investments Commission website.

For an aircraft, this means the series of numbers and/or letters that are assigned to the aircraft under the Chicago Convention.

The nationality mark for an Australian aircraft is 'VH', followed by a hyphen and registration mark of three characters.

A document guaranteeing the payment of a specific amount of money, either on demand, or at a set time, with the payer named on the document.

Generally includes:

• bills of exchange
• promissory notes
• letters of credit that must be presented to claim payment, and
• writings that evidence a right to payment of money that is ordinarily transferred by delivery with an endorsement or assignment.

The right given under a negotiable instrument is personal property.

See definition of 'negotiable instrument' under section 10 of the PPS Act.

NEVDIS (National Exchange of Vehicle and Driver Information System) is a national database of all registered vehicles in Australia.

Written off, stolen, make and model details are provided by state and territory road agencies and police. They do this via the database known as the National Exchange of Vehicle and Driver Information System (NEVDIS).

NEVDIS data is not always available or up-to-date when you do a search of a motor vehicle on the PPSR.

The PPSR interfaces with NEVDIS to provide additional information (where available) on motor vehicles (including if they have been reported as stolen (other than in Tasmania) or written off) when registrations are made against specific motor vehicles as collateral, and when searches of specific motor vehicles are conducted. The PPSR does not store or maintain NEVDIS data, and this data is not managed by the PPSR. The PPSR is not able to provide further details of, or correct mistakes in, NEVDIS data. State and territory road agencies and police are the source of NEVDIS data and the primary point of contact for enquiries, errors and corrections.

The absence of NEVDIS data from a PPSR search certificate or verification certificate does not affect the data on the PPSR in relation to security interests. The PPSR does not provide refunds when NEVDIS data is not available or up-to-date. NEVDIS data is made available without any representation or warranty of any kind regarding its completeness or accuracy.

For more information see Additional search results information for motor vehicles.

Known NEVDIS outages are published on PPSR availability.

Normalisation means converting certain letters to numbers, for example I (capital i) to the number 1 (one) and the letters O and Q to number 0 (zero). I, O and Q are normalised in the PPSR: I = 1 (one), O and Q = 0 (zero)

In relation to a ship or watercraft, means the six digit serial number (e.g. 345678) allocated to the ship or watercraft by the Australian Shipping Registration Office to Australian registered ships via the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

See the AMSA website for more information about the official number of a ship or watercraft.

When a PPSR registration has been amended or discharged, this creates a registration event. An ordinal search allows you to compare two registration events.

You will need both PPSR registration numbers. These are unique 15-digit numbers generated when a security interest is registered. A PPSR registration number is not a vehicle registration number.

You will also need the start time, end time or the change number of each registration, depending on the search you wish to conduct.

The organisation identifier is the name or number that identifies the organisation.

This can include the name, ACN, ABN, ARBN, ARSN, or ARFN allocated to an organisation.

It is important to ensure that the correct organisational identifier is included in the registration (incorrect identifiers for grantors may lead to the registration being ineffective). The identifier rules are contained in the PPS Regulations.

For migrated registrations, this means the time at which the registration that is migrated was first registered on the transitional register.

Example:

A mortgage for a motor vehicle was registered on the Register of Encumbered Vehicles on 1 July 2008. This registration was migrated to the PPS Register. The original registration time shown on PPS Register for this migrated registration will be 1 July 2008.

'Other goods' is a collateral class and means personal property that is goods, other than agriculture, aircraft, motor vehicles and watercraft.

Example:

Bank X has a security interest over ABC Ltd's space satellite. A space satellite is a tangible property (ie goods) but is not agriculture, aircraft, motor vehicle or watercraft. It is therefore assigned the collateral class 'other good' in the registration.

Other goods are searchable by grantor.

Outboard motor means an engine that:

• has a propeller and a manufacturer's number,
• is designed to be attached to a boat or vessel (watercraft), and
• is intended for use to propel a boat or vessel.

Outboard motors generally belong to the collateral class 'other goods'.

A patent is a right granted for any device, substance, method or process which is new, inventive and useful. A patent is intangible personal property.

For more information on intellectual property, including patents, go to the IP Australia website.

PBRs are exclusive commercial rights to a registered variety of plants. PBRs are a form of intellectual property and are administered under the Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994 (Cth). PBR is intangible personal property. The Plant Breeder's Rights Act is available on the Comlaw website.

Patent Cooperation Treaty number. An international patent application number issued under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. See the IP Australia website for more information about the PCT number.

If you need to come back to your application later, you can select Save as pending on any page of the registration process before submitting it. You’ll get a pending application number or you can enter your own reference number. You'll then have 7 days to complete it.

The period of time before which pending applications are deleted.

Giving your security interest the best priority and effectiveness, and enabling it to be enforced against the customer and third parties (including on insolvency) if and when needed, by a properly attached and documented security interest being registered on the PPSR.

Less common alternative forms of perfection: possession of tangible property, or control of some financial property.

Permissions, in relation to transactions on the PPS Register, refers to the ability to undertake tasks or transaction on the PPS Register.

Each permissible action in the PPS Register should have at least one corresponding permission to authorise it. For example, the details of a registration can be retrieved, provided the corresponding registration token is supplied.

Permissions are not directly assigned to a user of the PPS Register. Roles are formulated from a conglomeration of permissions. All actions that a user can take are authorised through the appropriately assigned groups of roles.

This is property to which the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) applies.

It is property, other than land, buildings and fixtures to land including:

• goods
• motor vehicles
• planes
• boats
• intellectual property (such as copyright, patents and designs), bank accounts and debts (sometimes known as receivables)
• shares and other financial property
• and private commercial licences

It does not apply to direct water rights, nor to most government issued licences or rights. See also consumer property, commercial property, financial property and intangible property.

The Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) is the law on security interests in personal property. It also established the PPSR. AFSA, through the Registrar of Personal Property Securities, administers the PPSA and the PPSR.

The PPSR is the official government register of security interests in personal property – these are debts or other obligations that are secured by personal property. It’s an online noticeboard accessible by the general public 24/7 and is not a register of title or ownership of personal property.

The PPSR started on 30 January 2012 and replaced many state based registers, (such as REVS and other vehicle registers and the ASIC Register of Company Charges), to form one national register.

A security interest over particular collateral, granted to secure debt incurred in acquiring the collateral in question from the secured party (a seller PMSI), or granted to secure funds lent by a secured party and used by the grantor for the purpose of enabling the grantor to acquire the collateral (a lender PMSI).

Includes leases, retentions of title and consignments that are deemed security interests under the Act.

Section 14 of the PPS Act provides the full definition of this term.

In May 2017, there was a change to the legislation regarding PPS leases. For further information about this, please see PPS Lease change 2017.

For leases entered into on or after 20 May 2017

A lease or bailment for at least two years, or an indefinite period but not until the lessee’s or bailee’s possession extends for more than two years

For leases entered into before 20 May 2017

A lease or bailments for at least one year, an indefinite period, or a term of up to one year or an indefinite period where with the lessor’s or bailor’s consent, the lessee or bailee retained substantially uninterrupted possession of the property.

An interest of this type may be a PMSI. For more information, see the Purchase money security interests (PMSI) page

For more information see: Leases and Bailments

A user who has been specifically granted the authority to manage some or all of the system, and may have special privileges to override portions of the system.

The PPS Regulations are part of the legislation and provide the rules to administer it. Visit the ComLaw website to view the PPS Regulations.

The order in which interests in property are enforced. Priority is usually determined by the time of creation of the interest, and earlier interest prevailing over a later interest. Division 3 of Part 2.6 of the PPS Act outlines the rules governing the priority of security interests.

Legislation that protects individuals from the unauthorised collection, storage, use and disclosure of information about themselves and the possible compromises resulting from unauthorised release of that information. The PPS Act states that an unauthorised search may contravene the Privacy Act 1988.

The identifiable or traceable personal property derived directly, or indirectly, from dealing with collateral or the proceeds of collateral. An example of proceeds is money received on sale of the collateral.

PPS Register users who have completed a registration process and received a user ID and set a password. A registered user logs on (authenticates) to the PPS Register using their user ID and password. All account customer users and internal users will be registered users.

A person appointed in accordance with the Personal Property Securities Act in order to administer the operation of the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) and make and delegate powers to make decisions with respect to its data and other relevant matters.

A registered financing statement (as amended from time to time) with respect to a security interest or personal property as prescribed.

Registration activity means creating or amending a registration (including amendment, discharge, or transfer), resetting a token, or resetting or changing the secured party group (SPG) access code.

The time the PPS Register began operation: the start (00:00:00 Canberra time) of 30 January 2012.

The date on which the registration will end. For non-consumer property, there may be no stated end time or the end time may be up to 25 years after registration. In the case of consumer or serial numbered property, the end time may be up to 7 years after registration.

The registration of a financing statement or a financing change statement with respect to a security interest (includes address for service change, amendment, discharge or transfer). A registration event will ordinarily generate a verification statement.

The PPS Register contains mostly registrations over personal property that is subject to a security interest. However, there will also be other 'kinds' of registrations.

The registration kinds on the PPS Register include:

• security interest
• proceeds of crime
• hoon lien
• court order, and
• other prescribed property (see the 'giving of notice identifier' details for information about why the property is being registered on the PPS Register).

The registration number is provided to a user once a registration has been successfully made. The registration number will need to be supplied in order to amend a registration.

A registration can be in one of the following states:

• current
• expired
• removed, or
• archived

The Regulations made under the PPS Act 2009. The PPS Regulations are available on the Comlaw website.

Retention of title refers to the types of clauses that may be included in contracts where a purchaser may take possession of property, but does not acquire title to the property from the seller until the full purchase price is paid.

Records of encumbrance on motor vehicles were previously available from state-based registers known as Register of Encumbered Vehicles (REVS) or Vehicle Security Registers (VSR).

These records were transferred to the PPSR, which cover the whole of Australia, on Jan 30 2012, and all the state-based registers were closed. Please see the list of these previous registers and the historical records they contain for more information.

A search of REVs was known as a REVs check.

You can Do a used car search or vehicle search, if you have a VIN or chassis number, or Search by serial number if you only have the manufacturer's number.

The PPSR will then email a search certificate to you. If you do not have an email address select ‘View search certificate’ to print or download the certificate.

A search of the state-based Register of Encumbered Vehicles (REVs), or the Vehicle Security registers (VSR), was known as a REVs check.

All records stored on state-based registers have been transferred to the PPSR, which cover the whole of Australia, and all state based registers are now closed. Please see the list of these previous registers and the historical records they contain for more information.

You can do a Do a used car search or vehicle search, if you have a VIN or chassis number, or Search by serial number if you only have the manufacturer's number.

The PPSR will then email a search certificate to you. If you do not have an email address select ‘View search certificate’ to print or download the certificate.

Roles are sets of permissions that can be applied to individual users. Users can take on more than one role. The PPS Register will have a range of roles that can be assigned to authenticated users (those users that have a security account by registering as a user) and for casual users (who are unregistered users and therefore not logged in).

The PPS Register uses the Roles Based Access Control (RBAC) system to ensure that only authorised users can perform certain register transactions. The RBAC model enables you to assign certain groups of roles to certain users.

A roleset is the default set of roles given to the new account customer.

If there is no evidence to the contrary, search certificates are proof of the data returned in a search result, and are admissible as evidence in a court or tribunal.

A unique number that is assigned to each search certificate issued. Multiple search certificates can be issued for each search number. The search certificate number can be used to reissue a search certificate at a later time.

A number that is returned with a search. It identifies the search that was undertaken. The search number can be used to view the search result again at a later time.

The person who holds a security interest in personal property.

A unique identifier for each secured party group.

A secured party group (SPG) is a system construct used by the PPSR to help secured parties manage their registrations.  The SPG can have any combination of individual or organisation secured parties.

Secured party identification or identifier refers to the details that are used to identify the secured party in a registration.

The rules for secured party identification are set out in the PPS Regulations.

In brief, the Regulations provide that where the secured party is an individual, the identifiers are to be sourced from the documents in this order:

• the current driver's licence issued by an Australian state or territory
• proof of age card issued by an Australian state or territory
• Australian passport
• Australian visa
• passport from country secured party usually resides, or
• details on birth certificate.

Different rules apply depending on whether the secured party is a body corporate, a partnership, trustee of a trust, or a body politic. Fields on the PPSR change according to the identifier selected.

Organisation identifiers are the ARSN, ARFN, ACN, ARBN, ABN or name. It is important that you enter the highest priority identifier according to the organisation type.

See the PPS Regulations for more information on the secured party identification rules.

An agreement or act by which a security interest is provided; or writing evidencing such an agreement or act.

A security interest is most commonly created when a secured party (such as a lender) takes an interest in personal property of a grantor (such as a borrower), as security for a loan or other obligation. The security interest means the secured party can take the personal property (known as the collateral) if the secured obligation is not met.

Security interests can only arise when there is agreement between the grantor and the secured party. There are a small number of other types of transactions that also create security interests known as deemed security interests.

In relation to collateral, means a serial number by which the PPS Regulations require, or permit, the collateral to be described in a registration.

The PPS Regulations provide that the following may be described by serial number:

• commercial property that is:
  • motor vehicle
  • watercraft, and
  • certain intangible property (patent, trade mark, plant breeder's right, and design).

The PPS Regulations provide that the following must be described by serial number:

• consumer property that is:
  • motor vehicle
  • watercraft
  • certain intangible property (patent, trade mark, plant breeder's right, and design), and
  • aircraft (airframe, aircraft engine, helicopter and small aircraft).

• commercial property that is:
  • aircraft (that is further described as airframe, aircraft engine, helicopter and small aircraft).

Means aircraft other than an airframe, aircraft engine or helicopter.

Small aircraft generally includes any machine or craft that can travel in the air and has a nationality and registration mark assigned to it pursuant to the Chicago Convention.

Eg a hot air balloon with nationality and registration mark VH-XXX.

A secured party can indicate at registration or subsequently (by using the amend registration function) that a registration is (or is to be) subordinated to any other security interest. See section 61 of the PPS Act for more details.

An intermediary or broker who is authorised to conduct transactions on behalf of a secured party.

Each registration is issued with a registration token (or token). A token is used to authorise a user to amend or discharge a registration. A record of the token should be kept safe and made available only to personnel authorised to amend or discharge a registration. There is only one token per registration. If a token is lost or compromised a new token can be requested.

A trade mark can be a word, phrase, letter, number, sound, smell, shape, logo, picture, aspect of packaging or a combination of these. It can also protect brand names. A trade mark is intangible personal property.

'Transacting on behalf of' is when a user transacts on the PPS Register on behalf of another person. Typically this may be done when the Personal Property Securities Service undertakes a PPS Register function on behalf of member of the public who has contacted them.

Is a register that is held by the officer or agency of the Commonwealth or a state or a territory which contains data which will be migrated to the PPS Register.

A registration on the PPS Register in relation to a transitional security interest.

Means a security agreement that was in force immediately before the 30 January 2012 and that continued to be in force after that time.

See section 307 of the PPS Act for the definition of 'transitional security agreement'.

A transitional security interest (TSI) is an interest in personal property that, in substance, secures payment or performance of an obligation which existed prior to 30 January 2012.  TSIs also include security interests that didn’t exist at 30 January 2012, but were created under a security agreement that existed prior to 30 January 2012 and continued to exist after that time.

See section 308 of the PPS Act for the definition of 'transitional security interest'.

Data in a transitional register that has no corresponding field in a PPS Register registration. If the data provider wishes to include any of this data a facility to do so through the migration process has been allowed for.

This 'unsupported data' can be included in the migration record and it will be stored with the migrated registration in PPS Register as unstructured data.

Types of users in the PPS Register include casual users and account customers.

A series of numbers and/or letters that is assigned to a vehicle by the relevant road traffic authority upon registration of a motor vehicle. Often shortened to Rego.

You cannot search the PPSR using a vehicle registration number as it can be changed. For more information on searching for a motor vehicle,

A database (for example, NEVDIS, ABR & ASIC) against which PPS Register data will be verified.

A report produced during migration of registrations from transitional registers to the PPS Register. The verification report verifies which registrations were successfully to the PPS Register and those which were not successfully migrated.

A document confirming the details of a registration on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR), which is automatically generated by the PPSR and sent to the secured party’s address for service.

It confirms the details of a registration and may need to be given by the secured party to the grantor. Secured parties should ensure that the details on the verification statement received are correct. Some mistakes will mean that the registration is ineffective.

The VIN is a unique 17 character serial number used to identify a motor vehicle.

If a motor vehicle has a VIN, then a registration or a search for that motor vehicle on the PPSR should be made against that VIN.

Notes

Age of Vehicle: In most cases the serial number of a vehicle built after 1989 will be the vehicle identification number (VIN). This is not the number plate (registration/rego) number.

Structure of VIN: A VIN can only be made up of the following characters: 0-9, A-Z (uppercase) excluding letters I, O and Q,

Normalisation of input: When searching by VIN, if you enter the letters i/I, O or Q the system will normalise or correct these letters when searching on the PPSR for a security interest and for the retrieval of third party NEVDIS data.

Location of VIN: The VIN generally can be located on the body of the vehicle, under the bonnet, at the bottom of the windscreen on the passenger side, or along the drivers side door closure area.

Voice over Internet Protocol is a protocol optimised for the transmission of voice through the internet or other packet switched networks.

A watercraft is a boat or vessel (other than a seaplane) that is used, or intended to be used, in navigation by water or for any other purpose on water that has:

• a hull identification number, or
• an official number, within the meaning of the Shipping Registration Regulations 1981, issued by the Registrar of Ships (within the meaning of the Shipping Registration Act 1981.