Warehousemen's Liens Act 1969

In addition to all other remedies provided by law for the enforcement of liens or for the recovery of warehousemen's charges a warehouseman may sell by public auction any goods upon which the warehouseman has a lien for charges which have become due.

The warehouseman must give written notice of the warehouseman's intention to sell to the following:

the person liable as debtor for the charges for which the lien exists;

any person who has served upon the warehouseman a notice of a claim to be the owner of the goods or of some interest therein or of whose interest the warehouseman has received notice;

any person who holds an interest in the goods that is registered under any other Act and the existence of which is ascertainable by ordinary search of the relevant registers using the information known to the warehouseman;

any other person of whose interest in the goods the warehouseman has knowledge.

The notice must contain:

a brief description of the goods;

a statement showing the situation of the warehouse where the goods are stored, the date of their deposit with the warehouseman and the name of the person by whom they were deposited;

an itemized statement of the warehouseman's charges showing the sum due at the time of the notice;

a demand that the amount of the charges as stated in the notice and such further charges as may accrue be paid on or before a day mentioned, not less than one month from the delivery of the notice if it is personally delivered, or from the time when the notice should reach its destination according to the due course of post if it is sent by post; and

a statement that unless the charges are paid within the time mentioned the goods will be advertised for sale and sold by public auction, or (as the case may require) by such method and at a time and place specified in the notice.

If the charges are not paid on or before the day mentioned in the notice, an advertisement of the sale, describing the goods to be sold, and stating the time and place of the sale, must be published at least twice in a daily newspaper printed and published in the City of Darwin and in a newspaper printed and published in the Town of Alice Springs, the first publication appearing not less than 14 days before the day of the sale and the second publication appearing not less than 7 days after the first.

The sale must be held not less than 14 days from the date of the first publication of the advertisement.

For the purpose of advertising in accordance with the provisions of this section, the warehouseman may without liability for damage take all reasonable steps (including the opening of sealed or closed boxes or packages) to ascertain the nature and description of the goods to be sold.

If, pursuant to subsection (6), any box or package is opened the same must be opened in the presence of 2 other persons who must make, sign and verify by statutory declaration an inventory of the contents thereof.

The Local Court may, on the application of any person having any interest in the goods made at any time after the service of the notice, make an order staying further proceedings under this section for such period and on such terms as it deems just.

This section applies only to cases in which some part of the charges in arrear are in respect of a period more than 12 months prior to the date upon which the notice of intention to sell is given.

For the purposes of a sale of goods under this section, the warehouseman is taken to be the absolute owner of the goods.