12Powers of Registrar-General

#### 12 Powers of Registrar-General 12 Powers of Registrar-General > > (1) The Registrar-General may exercise the following powers, that is to say— > > > > > (a) The Registrar-General may require any person who may have possession or control of an instrument relating to land the subject of a dealing, or relating to the title to any such land, to produce that instrument, and the Registrar-General may retain any such instrument, whether produced pursuant to this paragraph or otherwise, until it is no longer required for action in connection with a dealing lodged with the Registrar-General. > > > > > (b) The Registrar-General may summon any person referred to in paragraph (a) or any person who to the Registrar-General appears to be interested in any land, title to land, or instrument affecting land, the subject of a dealing to appear and give an explanation respecting that land, title, or instrument. > > > > > (c) The Registrar-General may administer oaths or may take a statutory declaration in lieu of administering an oath. > > > > > (d) The Registrar-General may, subject to this section and upon such evidence as appears to the Registrar-General sufficient, correct errors and omissions in the Register. > > > > > (d1) The Registrar-General may, subject to subsection (3A), on such evidence and after such notices (if any) as appear to the Registrar-General to be sufficient, and with the consent of the proprietors and any mortgagees of the land, correct the Register by correcting a reference to one or more lot numbers in a plan. The Registrar-General may make the correction on the application of a proprietor or mortgagee or on the Registrar-General’s own initiative. > > > > > (e) The Registrar-General may record in the Register a caveat on behalf of any person under any legal disability or on behalf of Her Majesty to prohibit the transfer or dealing with any land belonging or supposed to belong to any such person as hereinbefore mentioned, and also to prohibit the dealing with any land in any case in which it appears to the Registrar-General that an error has been made by misdescription of such land or otherwise in any folio of the Register or instrument, or for the prevention of any fraud or improper dealing. > > > > > > Editorial note. > > > > > > See [Trustee Act 1925](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1925-014), sec 11. > > > > > (f) For the protection of any person interested in land under the provisions of this Act the Registrar-General may record in the Register a caveat, or may otherwise record the interest of that person in the Register in such manner as appears to the Registrar-General to be appropriate. > > > > > (g) The Registrar-General may, on such evidence as appears to the Registrar-General sufficient, record in the Register any change in the name of a registered proprietor, whether the change is consequent upon the marriage of the proprietor or otherwise. > > > > > (h) The Registrar-General may at the Registrar-General’s discretion, and notwithstanding anything in this Act, dispense with any advertisement or the supply to the Registrar-General of any information or the production to the Registrar-General of any instrument. > > > > > (h1) The Registrar-General may give notice of the intended exercise or performance of a power, authority, duty or function conferred or imposed by this Act as follows— > > > > > > > (i) in the approved way, > > > > > > > (ii) by advertisement, > > > > > > > (iii) by directing another person to give notice in a way and form approved by the Registrar-General. > > > > > (i) The Registrar-General may, where the Registrar-General is satisfied that an estate or interest has been extinguished by merger, make such recording in the Register as the Registrar-General considers appropriate. > > > (1A) (Repealed) > > > (2) Where a person required to produce an instrument pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection (1) fails to produce the instrument or to allow it to be inspected or, being summoned pursuant to paragraph (b) of that subsection, refuses or neglects to give an explanation which the person is, pursuant to that paragraph, required to give, or knowingly misleads or deceives any person authorised to demand any such explanation, the person shall for each such offence incur a penalty not exceeding 2 penalty units, and the Registrar-General, if the instrument or information withheld appears to the Registrar-General material, may reject the relevant dealing referred to in that subsection. > > > (3) Where the Registrar-General, in the exercise of the powers conferred upon the Registrar-General by subsection (1) (d), makes a correction in the Register— > > > > > (a) the Registrar-General shall, by an appropriate recording in the Register, authenticate the correction and record the date thereof, and > > > > > (b) to the extent that, but for this paragraph, the correction would prejudice or affect a right accrued from a recording made in the Register before the correction, the correction shall be deemed to have no force or effect, and > > > > > (c) subject to paragraph (b), the Register shall, as so corrected, have the same validity and effect as it would have had if the error or omission had not occurred, and > > > > > (d) the Registrar-General shall, while any right preserved by paragraph (b) is subsisting, maintain available for search a record of the date, nature and effect of the correction, and > > > > > (e) the Registrar-General must keep a record of every correction. > > > (3A) If the Registrar-General makes a correction referred to in subsection (1) (d1)— > > > > > (a) the correction— > > > > > > > (i) must not make original words or symbols illegible, and > > > > > > > (ii) must be dated, and > > > > > > > (iii) must be initialled by the Registrar-General, and > > > > > (b) the correction takes effect as if the error corrected had not occurred, and > > > > > (c) the correction does not affect the construction of any instrument made or entered into before the correction so as to prejudice any person claiming under that instrument, and > > > > > (d) the Registrar-General must keep a record of every correction. > > > (4) Where the Registrar-General exercises the powers conferred upon the Registrar-General by subsection (1) (f) otherwise than by entering the Registrar-General’s caveat, the interest recorded shall be deemed to be an interest within the meaning of section 42 but otherwise shall have no greater operation or effect than it would have had if not so recorded. > > > (5) Upon the recording, pursuant to subsection (1) (i), of the extinction of an estate or interest by merger, that estate or interest shall be deemed to have been extinguished accordingly. > > > (6) The powers of the Registrar-General under this section may be exercised with respect to electronic lodgments in conjunction with powers granted under the [Electronic Conveyancing National Law (NSW)](/view/html/inforce/current/act-2012-88a). > > > (7) A power to correct errors and omissions conferred by subsection (1) includes a power to correct errors and omissions resulting from a malfunction of— > > > > > (a) an Electronic Lodgment Network or electronic system in which information is communicated between the Electronic Lodgment Network and the Registrar-General, or > > > > > (b) any other system, approved by the Registrar-General, that enables the lodgment of dealings, caveats, priority notices and other documents in electronic form. > > **s 12:** Am 1938 No 30, sec 8 (1) (a); 1956 No 12, sec 2 (a); 1967 No 9, sec 2 (b); 1970 No 23, sec 4 (a); 1976 No 96, Sch 3; 1979 No 26, Sch 1 (3); 1979 No 164, Sch 3 (1); 1984 No 25, Schs 1 (2), 2 (3); 1992 No 112, Sch 1; 1996 No 87, Sch 1 \[1\]–\[3\]; 1999 No 58, Sch 1 \[1\] \[2\]; 2014 No 7, Sch 1 \[4\]–\[7\]; 2021 No 10, Sch 1.2\[2\]; 2025 No 50, Sch 4\[6\] \[7\].