Registration of Deeds Act 1957

Subject to this section, a person may register a deed in the register—

by depositing the deed with the registrar-general; or

by producing the deed to the registrar-general and depositing with the registrar-general a copy of the deed verified as a true copy by the statement of a person who has compared the copy with the original deed of which it purports to be a true copy; or

if the person is unable to produce the deed to the registrar-general by reason of the fact that the deed has been registered by, or filed or deposited with, an officer of a State or Territory under a law of that State or Territory—by depositing with the registrar-general a copy of the deed, being a copy of the deed certified as a true copy by the officer having the custody of the deed, or being a copy of the deed that is, by virtue of the law of the State or Territory under which the deed was so registered, filed or deposited, evidence of the contents of the deed in the State or Territory.

A deed must not be registered under this Act by being deposited with the registrar-general unless the deed, in the opinion of the registrar-general—

is legibly written; and

is on paper of a size and standard approved by the registrar‑general; and

will, if entered on the register, be, and continue to be, easily readable.

The registrar-general may refuse to accept the deposit, under subsection (1) (b) or (c), of a copy of a deed if, in his or her opinion, the copy—

is not legibly written; or

is not on paper of a size and standard approved by him or her; or

will not, if bound in the register, be, and continue to be, easily readable.

Where, in the copy of a deed, not being a copy which is, by virtue of the law of the State or Territory under which the deed was registered, filed or deposited, evidence of the contents of the deed in the State or Territory, there is an interlineation, alteration or erasure, the copy shall not be deposited with the registrar-general under subsection (1) (b) or (c) unless—

the interlineation or alteration, not being an alteration by erasure, is authenticated by the initials of the person verifying or certifying the copy as a true copy; and

in the case of an erasure—the words or figures appearing, at the time the copy was verified or certified to be a true copy, to be written on the erasure are rewritten and signed or initialled in the margin of the copy by the person verifying or certifying it to be a true copy.

Upon registering a deed in the register, the registrar-general shall endorse on the registration copy of the deed a memorandum of the registration of the deed and of the date and time of registration and—

shall, if the original deed has been produced to him or her but has not been deposited with him or her, endorse such a memorandum on the deed; or

shall, if a copy of the deed has been deposited with him or her under subsection (1) (c) and the person depositing the copy so requests and produces to the registrar-general a further copy of the deed duly verified to be a copy, endorse such a memorandum on the further copy.