What it does
The Uncollected Goods Act 1995 creates a statutory code for the lawful disposal of goods that have been left in the possession of another person where the original depositor has failed to collect them or cannot be contacted. At its core the Act defines “uncollected goods” in s 5(1) by reference to three bailment-based triggers: goods ready for delivery but not collected, situations where the receiver cannot trace the depositor despite an obligation to give notice, or where the receiver expects to be relieved of the duty to safeguard once notice is given. Subsection 5(2) then significantly widens the concept to cover goods a park owner, operator, landlord, retirement-village operator or owners corporation reasonably believes have been abandoned in defined circumstances under the Holiday Parks (Long-term Casual Occupation) Act 2002, Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013, Residential Tenancies Act 2010, Retirement Villages Act 1999 or Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. Goods of a kind prescribed by regulation are also included.
Once goods meet the s 5 test, the Act supplies a self-help mechanism that operates where no contractual disposal regime exists (s 6(1)) or as an alternative to certain other statutory regimes (s 6(2)), although it is expressly unavailable in respect of the Passenger Transport Act 1990, Passenger Transport Act 2014, Pawnbrokers and Second-hand Dealers Act 1996, Storage Liens Act 1935, Transport Administration Act 1988, Unclaimed Money Act 1995 or any other prescribed statute. The operative disposal rules are now concentrated in Part 3 (ss 19–31) and Part 3A (ss 31A–31B) following the 2018 amendments that repealed the former Part 2 court-order pathway.
Part 3 differentiates disposal according to three value bands. Low-value uncollected goods (less than $1,000) may be disposed of “in an appropriate manner” after oral or written notice and 14 clear days (s 20(2)). Medium-value goods ($1,000 to less than $20,000) must be sold by public auction or private sale at fair value after written notice and 28 clear days (s 21(2)). High-value goods ($20,000 or more) cannot be disposed of except pursuant to a Tribunal order; a receiver who does so otherwise commits an offence carrying 200 penalty units (s 22(2)). A separate streamlined regime for personal documents (s 22A) requires 28 days’ written notice and mandates secure destruction or return to the author. Perishable goods and rubbish may be disposed of without notice and in any manner the receiver considers appropriate (s 24).