Security of payment
Security of payment is the family of Australian statutes giving construction contractors a fast statutory right to progress payments and rapid adjudication of payment disputes: rights that cannot be contracted out of.
Every state and territory has an Act. Most follow the East Coast model (payment claim, payment schedule, adjudication); the NT retains the West Coast model with different mechanics. The Acts differ in windows and details, and the state of the work decides which applies.
Why it matters to subbies
This legislation is the biggest under-used lever in a subcontractor's toolkit. Knowing your Act's windows (and showing the builder you know them) changes payment behaviour before any formal step is taken.
Keep reading
General information for Australian subcontractors, not legal advice. Contract drafting and state legislation vary and change; your document and your state's Act govern. Written by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.