SAIn ForceAct
Real Property Act 1886
Part 6The title of registered proprietors
Start here
Get a plain-English read of Part 6
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Real Property Act 1886.
Part 6—The title of registered proprietors
67—Instruments not effectual until registration
No instrument registrable under this Act shall be effectual to pass any land or to render any land liable as security for the payment of money, but upon the registration of any instrument in manner herein prescribed, the estate or interest specified in such instrument shall pass, or, as the case may be, the land shall become liable as security in manner and subject to the covenants, conditions, and contingencies set forth and specified in such instrument or by this Act declared to be implied in instruments of a like nature.
69—Title of registered proprietor indefeasible
The title of every registered proprietor of land shall, subject to such encumbrances, liens, estates, or interests as may be notified on the certificate of title of such land, be absolute and indefeasible, subject only to the following qualifications:
(a) Fraud
in the case of fraud, in which case any person defrauded shall have all rights and remedies that he would have had if the land were not under the provisions of this Act: Provided that nothing included in this subsection shall affect the title of a registered proprietor who has taken bona fide for valuable consideration, or any person bona fide claiming through or under him;
(b) Forgery or disability
in the case of a certificate or other instrument of title obtained by forgery or by means of an insufficient power of attorney or from a person under some legal disability, in which case the certificate or other instrument of title shall be void: Provided that the title a registered proprietor who has taken bona fide for valuable consideration shall not be affected by reason that a certificate other instrument of title was obtained by any person through whom he claims title from a person under disability, or by any of the means aforesaid;
(c) Erroneous inclusion of land
where any portion of land has been erroneously included, by wrong description of parcels or boundaries, in the certificate of title or other instrument evidencing the title of the registered proprietor: In which case the rights of the person who but for such error would be entitled to such land shall prevail, except as against a registered proprietor taking such land bona fide for valuable consideration, or any person bona fide claiming through or under the registered proprietor;
(d) Omission of easement
where a right-of-way or other easement not barred or avoided by the provisions of the Rights-of-Way Act 1881, or of this Act, has been omitted or mis-described in any certificate, or other instrument of title: In which case such right-of-way or other easement shall prevail, but subject to the provisions of the said Rights-of-Way Act 1881 and of this Act;
(e) Several certificates for the same land
where 2 or more certificates of title shall be registered under any of the Real Property Acts in respect of the same land: In which case the title originally first in time of registration shall prevail but without prejudice to the effect of anything done under Part 19A of this Act;
(f) Certificate of title to be void if any person is in possession and rightfully entitled adversely to the first registered proprietor
any certificate of title issued upon the first bringing of land under the provisions of any of the Real Property Acts, and every certificate of title issued in respect of the said land, or any part thereof, to any person claiming or deriving title under or through the first registered proprietor, shall be void, as against the title of any person adversely in actual occupation of, and rightfully entitled to, such land, or any part thereof at the time when such land was so brought under the provisions of the said Acts, and continuing in such occupation at the time of any subsequent certificate of title being issued in respect of the said land;
(h) A lease or letting for not more than a year
where at the time when the proprietor becomes registered a tenant shall be in actual possession of the land under an unregistered lease or an agreement for a lease or for letting for a term not exceeding one year: In which case the title of the tenant under such lease or agreement shall prevail;
(i) Failure of mortgagee to comply with verification requirement
if—
(i) the person by or on whose behalf a mortgage was signed or executed as mortgagor (the purported mortgagor) is not the registered proprietor of land subject to the mortgage; and
(ii) the mortgagee failed to comply with a requirement under this Act or the Electronic Conveyancing National Law (South Australia)—
(A) to verify the purported mortgagor's identity or authority to enter into the mortgage; or
(B) if the mortgage was transferred to the mortgagee—to establish that the transferor complied with an obligation imposed under this Act on the transferor, as mortgagee, to verify the identity of the purported mortgagor or to verify the purported mortgagor's authority to enter into the mortgage,
the mortgagee's interest under the mortgage is not indefeasible.
70—In other cases title of registered proprietor shall prevail
In all other cases the title of the registered proprietor of land shall prevail, notwithstanding the existence in Her Majesty, Her heirs, or successors, or in any person of any estate or interest whatever whether derived by grant from the Crown or otherwise, which but for this Act might be held paramount or to have priority; and notwithstanding any want of notice, or insufficient notice of any application, or any error, omission or informality in any application or proceedings.
71—Saving of certain rights and powers
Nothing in the two preceding sections contained shall be construed so as to affect any of the following rights or powers, that is to say—
(a) Sales by Sheriff
the power of the Sheriff to sell the land of a judgment debtor under a writ of execution;
(b) Sales under order of the Court
the power of the Court to order the sale of land;
(c) Transmissions on bankruptcy or assignment
the right of the Official Receiver or of any trustee to land transmitted on the bankruptcy or statutory assignment of the registered proprietor;
(d) Contracts
the rights of a person with whom the registered proprietor of land has made a contract for the sale of the land, or in relation to any other matter affecting the land;
(e) Trusts
the rights of a cestui que trust where the registered proprietor is a trustee, whether the trust shall be express, implied, or constructive;
(f) Deed-poll by promoters of an undertaking
the right of promoters of an undertaking to vest land in themselves by deed‑poll pursuant to the Compulsory Acquisition of Land Act 1925 or any Act amending the same,
provided that no unregistered estate, interest, power, right, contract, or trust shall prevail against the title of a registered proprietor taking bona fide for valuable consideration, or of any person bona fide claiming through or under him.
72—Knowledge of trust not evidence of want of bona fides
Knowledge of the existence of any unregistered estate, interest, contract, or trust shall not of itself be evidence of want of bona fides so as to affect the title of any registered proprietor.