What are normal payment terms in an Australian subcontract?
The Australian market median is 25–30 days from payment claim to payment. Anything beyond 45 days is high risk. Several states also cap terms by statute regardless of what the contract says: Queensland and Western Australia cap subcontract payment terms at 25 business days, and in NSW a head contractor must pay a subcontractor within 20 business days of the claim.
What the contract says vs what the law allows
Payment terms are one of the few clauses where the contract doesn't get the last word. Security of Payment legislation in every state gives you a statutory right to progress payments, and in Queensland, NSW and WA the statute caps how long the builder can take — a contractual term longer than the cap is not enforceable on that point. Contracts still try it, and a subbie who doesn't know the cap will simply wait the extra weeks.
The other trap is how the clock is drafted. "30 days" can mean 30 days from claim, from end of month of claim, or from an invoice the builder controls the timing of. End-of-month-plus-30 drafting quietly turns 30 days into 45 or more from the day you actually did the work.
What to push for
The market position is payment within 25–30 days of the payment claim, with the claim date — not an approval step the builder controls — starting the clock. If the drafted terms run past the statutory cap in your state, that's not a negotiation, it's a void clause, and pointing that out changes the conversation.
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Can a subcontract override the statutory payment cap?
No. Security of Payment rights can't be contracted out of. A QLD or WA subcontract demanding more than 25 business days, or a NSW head contractor taking more than 20 business days to pay a subcontractor, is unenforceable on that point — the statutory timeframe applies instead.
Are 60-day or 90-day payment terms legal in Australia?
In QLD, NSW and WA, not against a subcontractor — the statutory caps override them. In other states there's no equivalent hard cap in the Security of Payment Act, but 60–90 day terms sit far outside the 25–30 day market median and are exactly the kind of clause worth refusing to sign.
Keep reading
General information for Australian subcontractors, not legal advice — statutory deadlines and details vary by state and change over time; verify them before relying on them. Written by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.