Registration of Deeds Act 1935

Registration of Deeds Act 1935

This Act may be cited as the Registration of Deeds Act 1935.

This Act shall not apply to –

instruments, wills, or letters of administration, or survey plans, in so far as they affect land under the provisions of the Land Titles Act 1980, or instruments which are registered, or require to be registered, under the provisions of that Act;

bona fide leases at a rack rent for any term less than 14 years.

Nothing in this Act shall render it necessary to register a power of attorney in any other manner than that provided by the Powers of Attorney Act 2000.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears –

index includes a copy of an index made pursuant to section 43(1);

instrument means any deed, judgment, document, or writing (other than a will or letters of administration) affecting or intended to affect land in this State;

judgment means – any judgment, decree, rule, or order in any action, suit, or original proceeding given or made by the High Court of Australia or any court of record in this State, whereby any sum of money is made payable, or which affects or is intended to affect land in this State; any judgment, decree, rule, or order in any action, suit, or original proceeding which has, by virtue of the Service and Execution of Process Act 1992 of the Commonwealth or the Supreme Court Civil Procedure Act 1932, the effect of a judgment of a court in this State;

letters of administration means any letters of administration issued out of or resealed by the Supreme Court, and includes any document authorizing the Public Trustee to administer the estate of a deceased person;

Registry means the Registry of Deeds.

The Registry shall be the office for the registration of instruments, wills, and letters of administration, and other documents as provided by this Act.

The administration of this Act is vested in the Recorder of Titles appointed under section 4 (1) of the Land Titles Act 1980 (in this Act referred to as "the Registrar").

The provisions of sections 6, 7 and 8 of the Land Titles Act 1980 relating to things done by the Deputy Recorder or an Assistant Recorder under that Act have effect in respect of any thing done by the Deputy Recorder or an Assistant Recorder under this Act.

A reference to the Registrar of Deeds in this or any other Act or document shall be read as a reference to the Recorder of Titles.

The Secretary of the Department may appoint a person employed in the Department to be Deputy-Registrar of Deeds, and all acts and things by this or any other Act required or authorized to be done by the Registrar may be done by the Deputy-Registrar, and every act and thing so done by the Deputy-Registrar shall be as valid and effectual as if the same had been done by the Registrar.

All instruments which are executed or made in good faith and for valuable consideration, and are registered under the provisions of this Act, shall have and take priority, not according to their respective dates, but according to the priority of the registration thereof only.

For the purposes of this section an instrument shall be deemed to have been made in good faith if it is executed or taken in good faith by the purchaser.

All wills and letters of administration which affect, or are intended to affect, land in this State shall be registered under this Act.

Subject to this section, every judgment whereby any sum of money is made payable, whether registered before or after the commencement of this Act, shall, when registered, be a charge upon the lands of the judgment debtor.

At the expiration of each period of 5 years from the date of the registration or reregistration thereof, any such judgment shall cease to be a charge upon the lands of the judgment debtor and shall, as to purchasers, mortgagees, and creditors, be of no effect against any such lands, unless it is reregistered as provided by this section.

Where the time prescribed by subsection (2) expires on a day on which the Registry Office is closed, the registration shall be effective if effected on the next day thereafter on which the office is open.

Any such judgment may be reregistered at the expiration of each such period of 5 years in the same manner as is provided by this Act for the registration of judgments.

Nothing in this section shall extend to revive or restore any judgment which is extinguished or barred, nor shall the same extend to affect or prejudice any judgment as between the parties thereto or their representatives or those deriving as volunteers under them.

Nothing in this section shall require judgments, other than those referred to in subsection (1), to be registered more than once.

A person who wishes to register any instrument, will, or letters of administration under this Act shall lodge with the Registrar – in respect of the instrument, will, or letters of administration, an application for registration in the prescribed form and containing – the prescribed particulars; and a certificate, signed by the person on whose behalf the application is made or by the Australian legal practitioner acting for that person, as to the correctness of those particulars and that there has been no failure to comply with Part 3 of the Local Government (Building and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1993 with respect to the transaction to which the application relates; and such other documents as may be prescribed – and shall pay the prescribed fee.

The Registrar may refuse to accept for registration any instrument, will, or letters of administration if, in his opinion, it does not, or they do not, comply with the provisions of this Act.

Subject to this section, the Registrar – shall number every application for registration according to the order of time in which it is delivered to him; shall certify thereon the day and time when it was delivered to him; shall make and file in the Registry a record, made in the prescribed manner, of the application and every writing in respect of which the application is made; and shall certify on the instrument, will, or letters of administration in respect of which the application is made that it is, or they are, registered at the day and time referred to in paragraph (b).

A certificate under subsection (3)(d) is evidence of the registration and time of registration of the instrument, will, or letters of administration to which it relates.