Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated ActsRequests for information
(1) An interested person mentioned in subsection (9) may request a secured party who holds a security interest in collateral to send or make available to the interested person, or any other person, any of the following:
(a) a copy of the security agreement that provides for the security interest;
(b) a statement in writing setting out the amount or the obligation that is secured by the security interest and the terms of payment or performance of the obligation, as at the day specified in the request;
(c) a written approval or correction of an itemised list of personal property attached to the request indicating in which items of property the security interest is granted, as at the day specified in the request;
(d) a written approval or correction of the following attached to the request, as at the day specified in the request:
(i) the amount or the obligation that is secured by the security interest;
(ii) the terms of payment or performance of the obligation.
(2) A request made under subsection (1) must specify an address to which the information requested under that subsection must be sent or at which the information must be made available.
(3) A request made in accordance with paragraph (1)(b), (c) or (d) must not specify a day later than 20 business days after the day the request is made.
Note: The period may be extended by a court under section 293.
Compliance with request
(4) Subject to subsections (5) and (6), a person who receives a request made under subsection (1) must respond to the request.
Note 1: A person who receives a request but who no longer has a security interest in collateral must respond to the request in accordance with section 276.
Note 2: Section 277 deals with the time for responding to a request.
Note 3: A person who responds to a request might be prevented from denying the accuracy etc. of information provided (see section 283).
(5) A secured party is not required to respond to a request made under subsection (1) if the information requested under that subsection must be, or has already been, made available to the person who made the request, under any of the following:
(a) a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory;
(b) the general law.
(6) A secured party is not required to respond to a request made under subsection (1) if:
(a) subject to subsection (7), the secured party and the debtor have agreed (the confidentiality agreement ) in writing that neither the secured party nor the debtor will disclose information of the kind mentioned in subsection (1); or
(b) the response would contravene any of the following:
(i) a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory;
(ii) the general law; or
(c) the response would disclose information that is protected against disclosure by a duty of confidence.
(7) Paragraph (6)(a) does not apply if:
(a) the confidentiality agreement is made after the security agreement that provides for the security interest is made; or
(b) at the time the request is received, the debtor is in default under the security agreement; or
(c) the debtor, in writing, authorises the disclosure of the information; or
(d) the grantor requests the secured party to give the information to the grantor; or
(e) the request is made by an auditor of the grantor, if the grantor is a body corporate.
(8) If:
(a) a request is made in accordance with paragraph (1)(c); and
(b) the secured party claims a security interest provided for by a security agreement in any of the following:
(i) all of the grantor's present and after - acquired property;
(ii) all of the grantor's present and after - acquired property except for an item or class of personal property described in the security agreement;
(iii) all of a specified class of personal property of the grantor;
the secured party may indicate this instead of approving or correcting the itemised list of property.
Interested persons
(9) For the purposes of this section, the following persons are interested persons:
(a) the grantor in relation to the collateral in which the security interest is granted;
(b) a person with another security interest in the collateral mentioned in paragraph (a);
(c) an auditor of a grantor mentioned in paragraph (a), if the grantor is a body corporate;
(d) an execution creditor with an interest in the collateral;
(e) an authorised representative of any of the above.
(10) A secured party who receives a request made under subsection (1) that purports to be made by an interested person may act as if the person is entitled to make the request, unless the secured party has actual knowledge that the person is not entitled to make it.