Security of Payment
What is the Security of Payment Act?
The Security of Payment Act is the state law that sets the payment deadlines on construction work. You serve a payment claim. In most states the other side must answer with a payment schedule within a set number of business days, or owe the full amount. A short payment can go to adjudication. Each state and territory has its own Act.
How the sequence runs
- The payment claim. You serve a claim for the work done. In New South Wales the Act says to make every claim a valid payment claim: identify the work and state the amount (s 13(2)).
- The payment schedule. The other side answers with what it will pay, and why. Across the 7 Acts that count business days, the window runs from 10 to 15 business days. In the Northern Territory there is no payment schedule: a notice of dispute is due within 10 working days (s 20, Sch 1 cl 6(2)(a)).
- Adjudication. If the schedule pays less than the claim, a second clock starts on the day it is received. Across the same 7 Acts the window to apply runs from 10 to 30 business days. The Northern Territory allows 65 working days from the day the payment dispute arose (s 8, 28(1), (3)).
Every state's Act and its two windows
The first window is the payment schedule (the Northern Territory's notice of dispute), counted from the claim. The second is the adjudication application, counted from the schedule.
| State | Act | Schedule due | Apply for adjudication |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) | 10 business dayss 14(4) | 10 business dayss 17(3) |
| Queensland | Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld) | 15 business dayss 76(1), s 77 | 30 business dayss 79(2)(b) |
| Victoria | Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic) | 10 business dayss 15(4) | 10 business dayss 18(3)(c) |
| Western Australia | Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2021 (WA) | 15 business dayss 25(1), s 26 | 20 business dayss 28(4) |
| South Australia | Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 (SA) | 15 business dayss 14(4) | 15 business dayss 17(3)(c) |
| Tasmania | Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 (Tas) | 10 business dayss 19(2), (3)(b) | 10 business dayss 21(3)(a) |
| Australian Capital Territory | Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2009 (ACT) | 10 business dayss 16(4) | 10 business dayss 19(3)(b) |
| Northern Territory | Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act 2004 (NT) | 10 working dayss 20, Sch 1 cl 6(2)(a) | 65 working dayss 8, 28(1), (3) |
Count a real date, with each state's public holidays and Christmas break, in the Security of Payment deadline calculator.
In this guide
- Payment claimsWhat a valid payment claim must do under each state's Security of Payment Act, how often you can claim, and what an invalid claim costs, with sections.
- Payment schedulesPayment schedule deadlines in construction, state by state: business days from the claim, what a late schedule costs, and when payment falls due.
- AdjudicationWhen to give notice, apply for adjudication and respond under each state's Security of Payment Act, in business days, with the section cited.
- RetentionEvery retention and security duty the obligation library holds for Australian construction, state by state, with the window, the section and the consequence.
- Supporting statementsWhich Security of Payment Acts require a supporting statement with a payment claim, the section that says so, and what leaving it out costs.
- Missed deadlinesEvery Security of Payment window in every state, and what the Act records when it is missed: a barred claim, the full amount payable, or an offence.
- By stateThe Security of Payment Act in each state and territory side by side: schedule, payment, notice, adjudication and response windows, each with its section.
Why a missed window costs the money
The windows are short, and nobody sends a reminder. Demiton reads the claims and schedules already in your finance system, counts each window under the right state's Act on every job, and flags it before it shuts. A schedule window of 10 business days in New South Wales is 15 business days in Queensland, so a count that is right in Sydney is wrong in Brisbane.
What this page is, and is not
It is the section text this library holds for each state's Act, with the window and the consequence. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the Act and the contract you signed.
No library of law is complete, and Demiton never says this one is. An obligation the library does not hold, and you did not add, is not protected. You can add your own to any job.