State of the Personal Property Securities System 2023–24

Introduction

About this report

The Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) produces 'State of' reports to amplify the agency's voice across government, industry and the credit system. These 'State of' reports cover AFSA's personal insolvency and personal property securities functions.

This report provides an overview of the Personal Property Securities System (PPSS) 2023–24 with a focus on 3 areas:

1. The state of the PPSS and market context in 2023–24
2. Our regulatory focus
3. Our future focus.

About the PPSS

AFSA’s vision is a strong credit system for the Australian community. We ensure confidence in Australia’s personal insolvency and personal property securities systems and manage criminal assets.

AFSA administers the PPSS under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (the PPS Act).

The PPSS supports the flow of credit by:

• enabling creditors to safeguard their security interests
• empowering consumers and businesses to make informed decisions.

The most significant component of the PPSS is the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR). The PPSR is a critical piece of economic infrastructure that promotes access to credit by providing a visible online government record of interests held against personal property. Launched in 2012, the PPSR replaced many state-based registers – including the Register of Encumbered Vehicles (REVS) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s Register of Company Charges – to form a single national register.

The PPSR serves as an online ‘noticeboard’. When someone registers a security interest on the PPSR, they are letting the world at large know that they claim to have a security interest over certain personal property. Personal property on the PPSR includes cars, company assets, boats, used goods and intellectual property; it does not include land or fixtures. The PPSR is publicly accessible 24/7 and underpins Australia’s $3.6 trillion credit system.

AFSA's regulatory principles

AFSA works to maintain confidence in the PPSR by ensuring the register is well known, reliable and accurate. Our activities are guided by our Regulatory Strategy 2023–27, which informs our operational policies and plans and communicates our regulatory approach.

Our Regulatory Strategy sets out the following regulatory principles:

• People-centric – We put people at the centre of everything we do.
• Outcomes-focused – We focus on the overall impact that our work has on our clients, industry, the community, the credit system and the economy.
• Harms-based – We prioritise areas of greatest potential economic and social harms within the system.
• Intelligence-informed – We anticipate and respond to changes in the operating environment and regulate proportionately.
• Strengths-based – We promote and encourage positive behaviour.

Our annual Regulatory Action Statement outlines how we operationalise the Regulatory Strategy. It identifies our key regulatory harms and the activities we are undertaking to mitigate or respond to those harms.

In 2023–24, our Regulatory Action Statement addressed 2 harms with relevance to the PPSS:

• Combatting fraudulent registrations
• Ensuring PPS registrations are removed in a timely manner when the underlying liabilities have been discharged.

In 2024–25, our Regulatory Action Statement addresses 3 harms with relevance to the PPSS:

• Advisors encouraging individuals to register personal information on the PPSR, exposing risk of identity theft or other harms
• Coercive control through misuse of the PPSR
• Failure by secured parties to end registrations in a timely manner, limiting the free flow of credit.

Executive summary

The Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) administers the Personal Property Securities System (PPSS) under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth). This report describes the state of the PPSS and market context in 2023–24, our regulatory priorities and our future focus.

State of the PPSS 2023–24

• over 12.8 million searches of the PPSR were conducted, up 7.9% from the previous year, suggesting a growing public awareness of the financial and commercial risk protection that the PPSR offers.
• casual users accounted for 9.1% of searches, meaning that over 1.1 million searches were quickly performed to support people's financial decision-making.
• the PPSR contained more than 10.4 million current registrations, an increase of 2.3% from the previous year.
• there were 2.2 million new registrations, an increase of 7.9% over the previous year. New registrations were driven by motor vehicles (70.8% of new registrations).
• the most common grantor industry for registrations of business property was construction, followed by rental, hiring and real estate services.
• rates of discharges and amendments on the PPSR suggest a healthy level of dynamic renewal, with 2.0 million discharges and 1.4 million amendments made in 2023–24.

Our regulatory focus

AFSA’s harms-based approach to regulation focuses on identifying and responding to complex, multi-dimensional problems or risks in our regulatory system, and developing interventions that aim to prevent or detect the harm before it happens. This allows AFSA to focus on desired economic and social outcomes.

AFSA’s regulatory priorities respond to system vulnerability, system efficiency and system misuse.

• AFSA continues to evolve our approach to vulnerability. This involves encouraging more people to search the PPSR; reviewing our processes so they do not create additional harm or cause unnecessary stress; and ensuring that information is simple, relevant, accessible, and inclusive.
• AFSA aims to provide PPSR clients with simple and effective services to make financial protection easy. This involves enhancing system efficiency; increasing usability and accessibility; and improving user journeys.
• AFSA maintains confidence in the integrity of the PPSR by identifying, disrupting and preventing system misuse. We conduct ongoing proactive surveillance of the PPSR to detect potential misuse, and we take firm compliance and enforcement action where required.

While there are some known instances of misuse, there does not appear to be widespread misuse of the PPSR. The Registrar of Personal Property Securities maintains a vigilant approach to compliance through surveillance, education and enforcement.

Our future focus

AFSA continues to broaden its regulatory toolkit to respond to new and emerging harms to ensure confidence in the PPSS and a strong credit system for Australia.

Over the 2024-25 financial year, we will:

• Optimise our regulatory tools, including through an ongoing regulatory focus on AFSA’s Regulatory Action Statement
• Identify further opportunities to amplify our enforcement posture and deter those who repeatedly misuse the system
• Increase public awareness of the PPSR through our new Education and Outreach function
• Continue to prepare to implement the Government Response to the Whittaker Review to simplify the personal property securities framework
• Explore opportunities to modernise the PPSR and implement new ways of working, including through engagement with international counterparts following on from successful engagement with the New Zealand regulator in 2024.

AFSA is conscious of the need to ensure the information on the PPSR is reliable and accurate. We have demonstrated our commitment to firm enforcement action, where required, to act against and prevent system misuse.

AFSA has allocated 20% of its enforcement resources to ensuring the integrity of the PPSR, highlighting the importance of this economic infrastructure to the Australian community. AFSA is investigating a number of cases in which civil penalty proceedings may be instituted. We will continue to use the full range of regulatory tools available to promote compliance and enforce the law against serious and deliberate misuse.

AFSA will continue to ensure confidence in the PPSS and a strong credit system for Australia by engaging with our stakeholders, and by embracing opportunities to amplify our regulatory posture, support regulatory reform and modernise the PPSR.

1. Current state of the PPSS

The PPSR supports the flow of credit by enabling Australian creditors to safeguard their security interests and helping consumers and businesses to make informed commercial decisions.

PPSR overview

Current registrations

At 30 June 2024, the PPSR contained more than 10.4 million current registrations, an increase of 2.3% from 2022-23. Most (79%) of these registrations were commercial-based, that is, businesses lending to other businesses.

The PPSR holds registrations with a potential economic value of $450 billion, which was approximately 20% of Australian GDP (over 4 quarters to March 2024).^[1]

Searches-to-new registrations ratio

Awareness in Australia about the risk of inheriting undisclosed debts in transactions is reflected in the searches-to-new registrations ratio for the PPSR.

According to the World Bank^[2], approximate parity in the searches-to-new registrations ratio indicates users value the registry as a risk-management and prudent lending tool; a lower ratio can indicate registrations are being used as a formality, which can be symptomatic of poor credit practices and product awareness.

In 2023-24, the searches-to-new registrations ratio on the PPSR was 5.8 searches per registration (Figure 1), which is high by international standards.

Activity on the PPSR

New registrations

Since launching the PPSR in 2012, there has been an average of over 2.0 million new registrations made each financial year (Figure 2).

In the 2023-24 financial year, there were 2.2 million new registrations, an increase of 7.9% compared to the 2022-23 financial year. New registrations were driven by motor vehicles (70.8%) and registration of other goods (21.2%) such as equipment and merchandise, consistent with historical trends.

Registrations by account type

The PPSR is accessed through either business-to-government (B2G) or web-user interface (WebUI) channels. The B2G channel allows high-volume users to integrate the functionality of the PPSR into their workflows and business systems. The WebUI channel allows more infrequent users to access the PPSR’s functionality and protections for their assets.

Users of the PPSR’s B2G channel accounted for 79.8% of all new registrations in the 2023-24 financial year (Figure 3). This was higher than the historical average of 75%, indicating an increasing proportion of frequent users.

Registrations by industry sector of grantors

A grantor is an individual or organisation who owns or has an interest in the personal property to which a security interest is attached. The 2.2 million new registrations in the 2023-24 financial year supported a wide distribution of grantor industries.

In 2023-24, the most common grantor industries for the 1.5 million new registrations of business property were: 'construction', 'rental, hiring and real estate services'; and 'transport, postal and warehousing' (Figure 4).

The PPSR also supports consumers to access lines of credit and finance for goods, including cars and equipment. In 2023-24 there were 0.7 million new registrations that supported consumers (Figure 4). Motor vehicles were the most common registrations for consumers, representing 97% of new consumer registrations during 2023-24, consistent with historical trends.

Registrations by collateral class

'Motor vehicles' is the most common collateral class for new registrations on the PPSR. Motor vehicle registrations accounted for 70.8% of all new registrations in 2023-24 (74.7% of B2G registrations and 55.3% of WebUI registrations respectively). 'Other goods' (goods other than agriculture, aircraft, motor vehicles and watercraft) was the second-most common collateral class for all new registrations (19.9% of B2G registrations and 26.5% of WebUI registrations respectively) (Figure 5).

'Motor vehicles' and 'other goods' accounted for most new registrations by B2G channel users. Registrations by WebUI account users were more evenly distributed across collateral classes.

Aside from motor vehicles, current PPSR registrations cover a wide variety of personal property in Australia, including registrations for two Tiffany diamonds as well as artworks by Norman Lindsay and Kudditji Kngwarreye.

The PPSR supports a broad range of commercial arrangements. It does this by providing risk management and security to many industries and commercial arrangements by allowing a wide range of collateral to be used as security in obtaining credit.^[3]

Secured-party registrations

For businesses and lenders that operate on terms such as the retention of title or consignment benefit, secured-party registrations enable registrations of interest in goods that have yet to be paid for. Secured-party registrations give consumers and businesses a higher priority to recover goods or money if their counterparty becomes insolvent.

New registrations on the PPSR are concentrated across financial and insurance services (including motor vehicle finance companies) as the secured party, accounting for 68.0% of new registrations in 2023-24. Wholesale trade; rental, hiring and real estate services; and manufacturing are the other most common industries for secured parties making registrations (Figure 6).

Duration of registrations

At 30 June 2024, most (68.4%) current registrations had a duration of 7 years or less (Figure 7). These registrations will be discharged over the course of their registration lifetime and will be replaced with new registrations by other businesses and consumers seeking to protect their assets.

Not having an end date can present difficulties for affected parties in accessing finance. At 30 June 2024, 18.8% of all current registrations on the PPSR did not have a set end date. Most of these derive from the formation of the PPSR in 2012, when many state and national registers were replaced.

Over the 10 financial years to 2023-24, the proportion of registrations with a duration of 1 to7 years remained stable, at an average 69.2% of total current registrations.

Amendments and discharges

Amendments and discharges are important practices undertaken by secured parties to ensure the quality of information on the PPSR.

Amendments are necessary to keep registrations updated with changes, such as adding or removing grantors and changing the end date of a registration. Discharges enable secured parties to remove registrations when the interest in the collateral ends.

Rates of discharges and amendments in 2023-24 suggest there was a healthy level of dynamic renewal of the PPSR. In 2023-24 there were 2.2 million new registrations, 2.0 million discharges and 1.4 million amendments (Figure 8).

The timeliness of discharges helps to support the integrity of the PPSR. AFSA will take follow-up educational and/or remedial action as required to ensure timely discharges. AFSA’s 2024-25 Regulatory Action Statement identifies that we will target the harms associated with the failure by secured parties to end registrations in a timely manner thereby limiting the free flow of credit.

Searches on the PPSR

Searches

Over 12.8 million searches were conducted on the PPSR in 2023-24, an increase of 7.9% from 2022-23, which is above the 5-year growth rate of searches (+5.9% annually). This growth rate suggests greater public awareness of the financial protection that the PPSR offers (Figure 9).

Searches by user type

Similar to registrations, searches on the PPSR can be performed using B2G and WebUI channels. However, the general public can also perform a search without having to register an account, at a cost of $2. This search function allows people who are buying cars and other goods to quickly perform a search and find information such as any disclosed debts on the asset.

As shown in Figure 10, the majority (79.7%) of searches on the PPSR are performed by B2G account users who handle high volumes of financial checks. Casual users (such as individual consumers) can also be the beneficiaries of B2G searches, for example, if they have conducted searches via a trusted professional (such as their accountant) or through online sales platforms.

Casual users accounted for 9.1% of searches in 2023-24, meaning that over 1.1 million searches were quickly performed to support people’s financial decision-making.^[4]

Searches by method

There are two main ways to search the PPSR – by the property’s serial number (that is, a vehicle’s VIN) or by the details of the grantor (that is, the person or organisation that granted the security interest).

In order to conduct a grantor search, a user would search the identifier (for example, their Australian Company Number) to discover all securitised assets owned by that organisation.

PPSR searches are historically driven by motor vehicle enquiries. In recent years, there has been an increase in organisational grantor searches. This reflects more businesses and consumers using the PPSR for financial protection.

During 2023-24, 53.1% of searches on the PPSR were for motor vehicles and 42.9% were for organisational grantors (Figure 11).

Market insights

The following section outlines key market trends for the 2023-24 period and discusses implications for PPSR registrations and searches.

Consumer sentiment and purchasing preferences

In the 2023-24 economic environment, consumers increased their purchase of goods in secondhand markets, increasing the potential risk of harm through the sale of assets with undisclosed debts.

According to the Australian Automotive Dealer Association^[5] , sales of secondhand cars grew substantially year-on-year (YoY) over the 6 months to June 2024, averaging at 17%.

This market trend was reflected in motor vehicle searches on the PPSR over the same period. Monthly searches for motor vehicles grew YoY by 11% (an increase from 8% over January-December 2023). This highlights the important role that the PPSR plays in helping consumers to mitigate harm associated with secondhand car purchases – for example, in identifying outstanding debts on secondhand cars for sale.

Credit system trends: non-housing secured lending activities

Since early 2023, despite rising interest rates, non-housing secured lending activities grew much more strongly than the credit system as a whole and the segment’s 5-year average. There were corresponding robust growths in PPSR activities over the same period.

The quarterly volumes for non-housing secured lending grew on average by 13% when comparing the quarters in the period March 2023-June 2024 to the corresponding quarters of prior years^[6]. Meanwhile, the credit system grew 5% YoY over the same period, which is half the average growth of the non-housing secured lending segment. 2023-24 growth in non-housing secured lending activities also well exceeded this lending segment’s 5-year average growth of 5% over March 2018-December 2022 (Figure 12).

Credit system trends: motor-vehicle lending

The major driver of strong growth in non-housing secured loans from early 2023 to 30 June 2024 was motor vehicle loans, which made up close to 50% of the total non-housing secured lending volumes, following a long period of global supply bottleneck in the automotive market. From the March quarter 2023 to the June quarter 2024, quarterly motor vehicle loans grew strongly by an average YoY rate of 15%, which well exceeded the YoY average growth rate of 6% in earlier periods.

Lending activities (newly originated and refinanced) in the non-housing secured credit market, including car loans, tend to correlate highly with search volumes on the PPSR (Figure 13).

A significant correlation is also evident in PPSR registrations (Figure 14), reflecting the expansive scope of the PPSR in supporting a wider range of lending activities in the credit system beyond just car loans. The Underwriting Agencies of Australia^[7] states that registering equipment through the PPSR system makes it easier to track the item in the event attempts are made to on-sell the item through a reputable machinery dealer. Successful recovery rates, both short term and long term, are predominantly higher if the equipment is registered on PPSR.

Credit trend implications for the PPSR

The close relationship between the PPSR and trends in non-housing secured lending activities has been largely driven by registrations and searches relating to motor vehicles on the PPSR and motor vehicle (or car) loans.

Since March 2018, the relationship between PPSR registrations relating to motor vehicles and car loans has been much stronger than the relationship between other (non-motor vehicle) registrations and secured lending activities excluding car loans – 0.78 versus 0.39.

Over the same period, searches on the PPSR relating to motor vehicles are also more strongly correlated with car loan trends compared to that between other searches (90% are from organisational grantor searches) and secured lending excluding car loans – 0.92 versus 0.78.

Searches for organisational grantors (which may relate to an institution’s motor vehicle lending or may be for other purposes) are moderately correlated with business car loans (0.66) and are not correlated with other secured business lending excluding car loans (0.19).

As of early 2025, AFSA anticipates non-housing secured lending activity will ease as demand for motor vehicles subsides. While the December 2024 quarter data is not yet available, there are early signs of tapering non-housing lending activities since the start of the September quarter 2024, driven by motor vehicle credit demand by both consumers and businesses. Analysis of monthly motor vehicle lending and monthly car sales over July-September 2024 indicates a lower average YoY growth rate compared to that over the earlier periods.

Slowing growth in monthly car loans in recent months is consistent with the automotive market trend. Demand for motor vehicles softened in both secondhand and new car markets over July-September 2024 compared to earlier in the year. Average YoY growth in monthly total car sales (secondhand and new cars) was -7% over July-September 2024 compared to an average 10% over January-June 2024 (Note: car sales growth data prior to January 2024 is not publicly available).

We expect that PPSR activities, including searches and registrations, may stabilise from September 2024 in line with credit trend expectations. Tapering growth in motor vehicle lending to both consumers and businesses has been reflected in registrations and searches on the PPSR since June 2024. YoY growth in both new registrations and searches in the September quarter 2024 weakened compared to the same quarter last year: 2% versus 11% for new registrations; and 4% versus 14% for searches.

2. Our regulatory focus

AFSA is committed to delivering firm and fair outcomes for consumers and businesses within Australia’s credit system. 

Harms-based approach

Our harms-based approach to regulation focuses on identifying and responding to complex, multi-dimensional problems or risks in our regulatory system and developing tailored interventions that can prevent or detect the harm before it happens. This allows AFSA to focus on desired economic and social outcomes.

Risks are spread across three groups in the  system (Figure 15). Most harms that undermine an effective personal property securities system occur on the edges of our client profile, where people and businesses are either experiencing vulnerable circumstances and need increased support to access the PPSR or are deliberately misusing the system.

System vulnerability

Consumers, including young people, the elderly, and small and micro-businesses, may be exposed to hidden harms when purchasing motor vehicles and valuable secondhand goods. Searching and registering on the PPSR can be a helpful protection.

We continue to evolve our approach to vulnerability, including how we define, identify and support people experiencing or at risk of experiencing vulnerability. This involves encouraging more people to search the PPSR; reviewing our processes so they do not create additional harm, increase barriers or cause unnecessary stress; and ensuring that our information is simple, relevant, accessible and inclusive. Key activities include:

• ensuring usability of the PPSR Car Check through a Car Check survey. 90% of users who completed the survey rated the PPSR as very easy to use
• amending our dispute-resolution process to make it more accessible and safer for people affected by family and domestic violence
• taking steps to reduce the incidence of people registering personal information on the PPSR, which places them at risk of identity theft and other harms
• updating content to meet government inclusive writing guidelines.

System efficiency

AFSA aims to provide PPSR clients with simple and effective services to make financial protection easy. This involves enhancing system efficiency, increasing usability and accessibility, and improving user journeys. Key activities include:

• enhancing system efficiency through practical guidance tools that drive good behaviours, improve data integrity, and improve public and commercial confidence in the PPSR
• using human-centred design in our communications to PPSR users to reduce effort and increase usability and accessibility, ensuring we meet diverse client needs and help all users to have a positive experience.

System misuse

AFSA maintains confidence in the integrity of the PPSS by identifying, disrupting and preventing system misuse. We conduct ongoing proactive surveillance of the PPSR to detect potential misuse, and we take firm compliance and enforcement action where required. Key activities include:

• monitoring users through our surveillance program and compliance practices
• investigating allegations from tip-off channels and using regulatory tools to take corrective action to remove registrations and suspend accounts
• actively progressing civil penalty proceedings to address deliberate misuse and ensure a strong message of general deterrence.

While there remains no evidence of significant misuse of the PPSR, during 2023-24 we removed 278 vexatious and unjustified registrations, delivered 26 official cautions, and suspended registrations made by secured parties or against specific collateral on 10 occasions due to persistent non-compliant behaviour.

3. Our future focus

AFSA continues to broaden its regulatory toolkit to respond to new and emerging harms to ensure confidence in the PPSS and a strong credit system for Australia. We do this by engaging with stakeholders, embracing opportunities to amplify our regulatory posture, supporting regulatory reform and modernising the PPSR.

Amplifying our regulatory posture

AFSA is taking a more proactive education, compliance and enforcement posture. This posture is intended to act against system misuse and help people experiencing financial stress. The PPSR enables businesses and consumers to make informed decisions, providing financial protection in a market where cost-of-living constraints drive transactions toward secondhand goods.

Our priority is raising awareness and education about potential harms arising from unscrupulous transactions. We are vigilant through our compliance program, and we use education and outreach programs to engage with consumers, businesses, market participants and government agencies. In 2024, AFSA established its Education and Outreach (E&O) function to engage and influence, and to educate and encourage. E&O will deliver tailored information to specific audiences in a planned and targeted way.

As an intelligence-led regulator, AFSA adapts its regulatory posture to changing economic circumstances and system needs. In the 2024-25 year, AFSA will continue its focus on:

• optimising our regulatory tools such as civil penalties, as outlined in our Regulatory Strategy 2023-27
• identifying further opportunities to amplify our enforcement posture and deter those who repeatedly misuse the system.

AFSA and the Registrar are conscious of the need to ensure the information on the PPSR is reliable and accurate. We have demonstrated our commitment to firm enforcement action, where required, to act against and prevent system misuse. AFSA has allocated 20% of its enforcement resources to ensuring the integrity of the PPSR as part of its proactive surveillance approach targeting improper PPSR registrations, highlighting the importance of this economic infrastructure to the Australian community. AFSA is investigating a number of cases in which civil penalty proceedings may be instituted. We will continue to use the full range of regulatory tools available to promote compliance and enforce the law against serious and deliberate misuse.

PPS Act Reforms

In September 2023, the Australian Government proposed a reform package that includes amendments to the PPS Act and new PPS Regulations in response to the final report of the 2015 statutory review of the PPS Act (the Whittaker Review). The overarching objective of the Whittaker Review recommendations and subsequent Government Response is to simplify the personal property securities framework by reducing duplication and administrative uncertainty through the consistent application of a single set of rules for the creation, registration, priority and enforcement of security interests in personal property.

While any changes to the PPSR are dependent on the final legislative reform package, AFSA is working to scope impacts and develop a transition and implementation plan. This will include an appropriate transitional period as well as comprehensive communications, education and support materials for users.

Endnotes

[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2024), Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, ABS, accessed 21 January 2025.

[2] World Bank (2012) Making Security Interests Public: Registration Mechanisms in 35 Jurisdictions, World Bank, accessed 21 January 2025.

[3] All present and after acquired property generally describes all of the current and future personal property of a grantor. It is similar to the pre-PPSR security known as a fixed and floating charge. An All-PAAP is often granted by businesses to their main financier under a general security deed.

[4] A small but negligible number of searches are performed by AFSA staff due to operational requirements.

[5] Australian Automotive Dealer Association & Autograb (2025) 2024 Automotive Insights Report, AADA, accessed 27 February 2025.

[6] A YoY growth comparison reflects the underlying trend of the segment as seasonality impacts are controlled.

[7] Underwriting Agencies of Australia (2024) ‘Machinery Theft & Fraud’, UAA, accessed 27 February 2025.