New changes have arrived for the Victorian Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 following the passing of the Building Legislation Amendment (Fairer Payments on Jobsites and Other Matters) Act 2025 in late 2025.
These new provisions took effect on 15 April 2026 and apply regardless of whether the relevant contract was entered into prior to the commencement or not. This largely removes the practical burden of administering two different versions of the Act, with the existing provisions only applying to payment claims served and adjudications commenced prior to the commencement.
The new Security of Payment changes in Victoria include:
- Excluded amounts: removing the statutory ‘excluded amount’ regime, thereby largely returning questions of claimability to the contractual framework governing the progress claim.
- Performance Security: introducing a process for claiming the return of performance security which largely mirrors the progress payment process.
- Reference date: removing the concept of a ‘reference date’. This removes one of the more technical gateways to valid payment claims and is likely to reduce jurisdictional disputes concerning claim timing.
- Unfair terms: granting adjudicators, courts, arbitrators and expert determiners the ability to declare notice-based time bar provisions ‘unfair’ and of no effect if compliance is not reasonably possible or would be unreasonably onerous.
- Adjudication reasons: removing the ability to add new reasons in an adjudication response.
- Timeframes: amended timeframes, such as being ‘no later than the day before’ a specified date.
- Void clauses: voiding clauses that provide for the payment of a progress payment or the release of performance security later than the day that is 20 business days after the payment claim or performance security claim is served.
Our Australia-wide comparison table below has been updated to reflect these changes. You can download the table by clicking on the image below.
If you need assistance with pursuing or defending claims for payment under the various construction industry security of payment legislation in any State or Territory in Australia, email or contact Adam Merlehan adam.merlehan@merlehangroup.com (+6140219769) for more information.
