Subcontractor payment protection in Australia
Security of Payment Acts, retention trusts, and Project Bank Accounts — what protections exist for Australian subbies and how to use them.
Subcontractor payment protection in Australia
Subbies in construction have specific statutory tools that other trades don't. The Security of Payment Acts (state by state), retention trust schemes, and Project Bank Accounts together create a layered protection regime — when used correctly.
Security of Payment Acts
Each state has its own. The pattern is consistent:
- Payment claim → must include statutory wording, served on the head contractor.
- Payment schedule → head contractor has a defined window (typically 10 business days) to respond.
- Adjudication → if the schedule is missing, defective, or the amount is disputed, the subbie can apply to an authorised adjudicator.
- Determination → typically issued within 10 business days of all submissions.
- Statutory debt → if the subbie wins, the determination is enforceable as a debt of court.
State-specific quirks (NSW vs VIC vs QLD) matter; check your state's version.
Retention trust schemes
NSW and Queensland have retention trust schemes for projects above value thresholds. Held retentions must sit in a trust account, not the head contractor's general operating funds. If the head contractor goes into administration, retentions are protected.
Project Bank Accounts (PBAs)
QLD has the most-developed PBA regime — payments to subbies flow through a PBA rather than the head contractor's account, and are protected against head contractor insolvency. Other states have variations.
What this means for recovery
If you're a subbie and a head contractor isn't paying:
- Issue a SOP Act payment claim as soon as the timeline allows.
- Track the payment-schedule deadline — missing it triggers default rights.
- Adjudicate if needed — fast, statutory, designed for this.
- Retention trusts / PBAs activate on insolvency events.
A platform-based recovery service (like Adeva Plus) handles the recovery sequence within SOP Act timing — initial demand, follow-up, escalation. Adjudication itself is filed by your solicitor with our documentation supporting the application.