2016 has seen some substantial changes, with Security of Payment having headed to the High Court. NSW also received further important decisions on the jurisdiction of adjudicators and jurisdictional error while Western Australia got amendments to their Construction Contracts Act 2004 (WA). In Queensland the changes to the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (Qld) in 2014 also affected the number of applications to the court.

The year ended with an interesting development on the federal front with the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Act 2016 (Cth)—the legislation that introduced the Building Code 2016—providing for the creation of the Security of Payments Working Group to investigate harmonisation of the security of payment legislation across Australia. That could be an interesting development over the next year or so.

Download Security of Payment Roundup 2016