Registration is the most common way to perfect security interests.

Registration is conducted online by filing an online form called a financing statement. A financing statement includes only summary details of the security interest being registered, including summary details of the grantor, the secured party, the collateral and the type of security interest (for example, whether a PMSI, or whether a circulating security interest). The security agreement is not registered.

See Chapter 22 (Registration and the PPS Register) for further discussion of the PPS Register.

For non-PMSI security interests granted by companies and perfected by registration, it is strongly advisable to register within 20 business days of a security interest coming into force (this is undefined but presumably
means attachment)¹.

If a corporate grantor goes insolvent (administration or liquidation) within six months of the grant of a security interest that is perfected by registration only, and it has not been registered within twenty (20) business days of coming into force, the security interest will be unenforceable².

Where security interests are not pre-registered (before attachment), this will cause the practice of registering company security interests in Australia to become registration within a longstop date of 20 business days of the date of grant.