Security of Payment in Australia: The Civil Contractor’s Guide to Getting Paid

1. Winning is half the job

A civil construction SME can do everything right — win the tender, deliver the works to specification, hand over on program — and still be pushed to the edge by one thing: not being paid on time. In an industry where you carry the cost of labour, plant, fuel and materials for weeks before a progress payment lands, cashflow is not an accounting metric. It is the difference between taking the next job and laying off the crew.

Australia’s answer is security of payment legislation: a set of state and territory Acts that give anyone carrying out construction work, or supplying related goods and services, a statutory right to progress payments and a fast-track process — adjudication — for recovering them. The regimes sit underneath your contract as a floor. You cannot contract out of them, and clauses that make your payment conditional on someone else being paid first (“pay when paid”) are void in every jurisdiction.

The catch is that the rules are state-based, the deadlines are short and unforgiving, and 2026 has been the busiest year for change in a decade. Victoria’s biggest overhaul since 2006 commenced on 15 April 2026, abolishing the excluded amounts regime and capping payment terms at 20 business days.^[1] Queensland paused the further rollout of its trust account framework and put the whole scheme under Productivity Commission review.^[2] A contractor working across two or three states is now working under two or three materially different payment regimes.

This guide covers the machinery that is common to every jurisdiction, then the four things that decide whether you actually get paid — payment claims, payment schedules, adjudication, and retention and trust arrangements — followed by a state-by-state reference and a practical playbook. It is the post-award companion to our complete guide to writing a winning civil construction tender: the same documentation discipline that wins the work is what gets it paid for.

One note before we start: this is general information for contractors, not legal advice. Security of payment deadlines are strict, jurisdiction-specific, and continue to change. When real money is on the line, confirm the current position for your contract — or get advice — before a clock runs out.

2. How the machinery works: two models, one cycle

Australia historically ran two models. The East Coast model — NSW, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT — is built around a three-step cycle: the claimant serves a payment claim, the respondent answers with a payment schedule within a fixed window, and any shortfall or non-payment can be taken to adjudication. Western Australia joined this camp when the Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2021 (WA) took effect for contracts entered into from 1 August 2022, replacing the old Construction Contracts Act for new work.^[3]

That leaves the Northern Territory as the last West Coast model jurisdiction. The NT’s Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act 2004 works differently: instead of a claim-and-schedule cycle, it implies payment terms into contracts that are silent, and lets either side take a “payment dispute” — a claim that has been rejected, disputed or simply not paid by its due date — to adjudication.^[4]

Everywhere, the scheme is deliberately “pay now, argue later.” An adjudication determination is binding and enforceable as a judgment debt, but it is interim: it decides who holds the money while the project continues, and neither side loses its final contractual rights to fight the underlying merits in court or arbitration later.^[5] In practice, most adjudicated amounts are never re-litigated — the cashflow question was the real dispute.

Three features matter for how you plan around the Acts. First, the statutory entitlement exists even where the contract is silent or hostile — most jurisdictions now give a monthly right to claim regardless of what the payment clause says. Second, contractual timeframes can shorten the statutory ones but generally cannot lengthen them; where a state caps payment terms, a longer contractual term is simply void. Third, coverage is broad — head contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and consultants are all in — but each Act has exclusions, most commonly residential work for a resident owner, and (in Queensland, WA and the NT) drilling and extraction work for mining and resources. That breadth is the point most often missed on privately developed work: a private principal sits inside the same statutory regime as a council, and the rights cannot be contracted out of — see our guide to working directly for private developers.

3. Making a valid payment claim

The payment claim is the document that starts every statutory clock, so validity is everything. The core requirements are consistent: the claim must be in writing, identify the construction work or related goods and services it covers, and state the amount claimed. The differences are in the details — and the details are where contractors lose rights.

Endorsement: does the claim have to say it’s made under the Act?

In NSW, yes — for contracts entered into from 21 October 2019, the claim must state that it is made under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW).^[6] South Australia and Tasmania require the same endorsement under their 2009 Acts,^[7] and Victoria retains it after the 2026 reforms. Queensland went the other way: under the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017, an ordinary tax invoice that identifies the work, states the amount and requests payment qualifies as a payment claim — no magic words needed.^[8] The practical rule for a multi-state contractor: endorse everything. An endorsement never invalidates a claim; its absence can.

Timing: when you can claim, and for how long

NSW, WA and the ACT have abolished “reference dates”: you can serve one claim per month, from the end of the month in which you first carried out work, without hunting through the contract for a trigger date.^[9] Victoria joined them on 15 April 2026, replacing reference dates with a statutory monthly entitlement.^[10] South Australia and Tasmania still run on reference dates — one claim per reference date, with unpaid amounts allowed to roll into the next claim.^[7]

Every Act also has a long-stop. In NSW a claim can be served within the period the contract allows or 12 months after the work was last carried out, whichever is later.^[6] Queensland allows 6 months from when the work was last carried out, with a longer window for final claims running to 28 days after the end of the last defects liability period.^[11] WA mirrors the final-claim approach. Victoria’s reforms doubled its notoriously short window: claimants now have at least 6 months from practical completion or final supply, up from 3 months — and claims that had expired under the old rule may have revived.^[10]

Supporting statements, shutdown periods, and service traps

Head contractors claiming from a principal must attach a supporting statement declaring that subcontractors have been paid what is due — in NSW (maximum penalty $22,000, and up to three months’ imprisonment for a knowingly false declaration) and in Queensland for non-residential head contracts since October 2020.^[12] If you sit below a head contractor, this is also a lever: a principal receiving a claim without one, or with a false one, has a compliance problem you can report.

Business days are not calendar days, and the definition differs by state. Queensland and (since April 2026) Victoria exclude the whole industry shutdown from 22 December to 10 January; NSW and Tasmania exclude 27 to 31 December only.^[13] A claim served on 19 December in Brisbane starts its clock in mid-January; the same claim in Sydney does not. Build the right definition into your claim calendar for each state you work in.

Finally, serve claims the way the Act and contract allow, as an actual document. Queensland courts have found that serving a claim as a download link rather than an attachment can invalidate service.^[11] And in WA, the Supreme Court has confirmed that the clock starts on actual receipt — a claim emailed on a Saturday was received on the Saturday, and a contract clause deeming weekend delivery to land the next business day could not override the Act.^[14] The safe habits: PDF attachment, to the contractually nominated address, with a delivery record, dated deliberately.

4. Payment schedules — and what silence costs

The payment schedule is the respondent’s side of the cycle: a written response that identifies the claim, states the amount the respondent proposes to pay (the scheduled amount — which can be nil), and, where that amount is less than the claim, sets out every reason why. The deadlines are short and vary by state: 10 business days in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT; 15 business days in Queensland, WA and South Australia — in each case, or any earlier deadline the contract sets.^[15]

Miss the window and the consequences are brutal by design. The full claimed amount becomes a statutory debt: the claimant can go straight to court for summary judgment, or to adjudication where there is nothing on the other side of the ledger. The reasons requirement bites just as hard. In NSW, Queensland, Victoria (since April 2026), Tasmania and WA, a respondent cannot raise any reason for withholding payment at adjudication that was not in the payment schedule — and WA goes further still: a respondent that never served a schedule is barred from lodging an adjudication response at all.^[16]

Two Queensland specifics are worth burning in. First, failing to pay a scheduled amount by the due date is itself an offence, carrying up to 100 penalty units.^[17] Second, if your contract sets a shorter schedule period than the Act’s 15 business days, the shorter contractual period binds — the Queensland Court of Appeal enforced exactly that in Allencon v Palmgrove Holdings.^[17]

Remember this section cuts both ways. The moment you engage subcontractors, you are a respondent too. A $50K–$2M civil contractor who lets a subbie’s December invoice sit in the inbox until mid-January has often already lost the right to deduct backcharges, set off defect costs, or dispute the claim at all. Schedule every claim you receive, within your state’s window, with complete reasons — even when the relationship is good and you intend to pay in full.

5. Adjudication: recovering the money in weeks

Adjudication is the enforcement engine of the whole scheme: a documents-based determination by an independent adjudicator, typically delivered within 10 business days of the response, binding on the parties and enforceable as a judgment debt if unpaid. No courtrooms, no discovery, no years. For a progress-payment dispute in the $50K–$2M range it is usually the only economically rational forum.

The application windows are the trap. They differ by state and by scenario — whether you received a schedule you dispute, received a schedule but weren’t paid, or received nothing:

• NSW: 10 business days after a schedule that shortchanges the claim; 20 business days after the due date where a scheduled amount went unpaid. Where no schedule arrived at all, you must first give the respondent notice within 20 business days of the due date, and they get a final 5 business days to produce one. Adjudicated amounts are payable within 5 business days of the determination, and a claimant who has applied can also serve a payment withholding request that freezes matching money one link up the chain.^[18]
• Queensland: 30 business days after receiving a disputed schedule; 20 business days after the due date for an unpaid amount. Applications go to the QBCC’s adjudication registry, and if you intend to sue on a statutory debt instead, a section 99 warning notice must go to the respondent first.^[19]
• WA: 20 business days from when the entitlement arises (down from 90 under the old Act). The respondent has 10 business days to respond; the adjudicator determines within 10 business days, extendable by agreement to a maximum of 20. WA also added a review layer: either side can seek review by a senior adjudicator within 5 business days where the determination departs from the claim or schedule by $200,000 or more, and a claimant can seek review of a jurisdictional dismissal where more than $50,000 is claimed.^[20]
• South Australia: 15 business days after a disputed schedule; where nothing arrived, notify within 20 business days of the due date, allow the 5-business-day grace period, then apply.^[21]
• Tasmania: 10 business days after a disputed schedule, with the same notice-and-grace route where no schedule was served.^[21]
• ACT: reference dates were removed and timeframes standardised by amendments that took effect on 11 March 2024, applying to existing and new contracts; the adjudicator decides within 10 days unless the parties agree to longer.^[22]
• Northern Territory: a different clock entirely — apply within 65 working days after the payment dispute arises.^[23]

Victoria’s April 2026 reforms tightened its process in the claimant’s favour: respondents are locked to the reasons in their schedule, adjudication applications must be served on the other side within 3 business days, the second-chance notice period where no schedule was given is now 5 business days, and determination timeframes can be extended to 30 business days by agreement.^[10]

On cost and conduct: each side bears its own costs, the adjudicator’s fee is usually shared or allocated in the determination, and the claimant generally pays the fee before the determination is released.^[18] Non-payment also unlocks the right to suspend work — in the east-coast Acts and WA, on two business days’ written notice after the due date passes, without liability for the delay that follows.^[15] Suspension is a serious step on a live council job, but the notice itself is often what gets the payment moving.

A candid word on strategy. Most contractors never lodge the application — and never need to. A correctly endorsed claim, followed by a precise letter noting that no compliant schedule has been served and that the full amount is now a statutory debt, resolves a large share of payment problems on its own, because the respondent’s advisors know exactly where the road leads. The leverage only exists if your paperwork is valid. That is the real reason to run the discipline in section 3 on every claim, every month.

6. Retention money and performance security

Retention is the slice of each progress payment — usually up to 5 per cent of contract value, or 10 per cent of each claim until the cap is reached — held back as security for performance, with half typically released at practical completion and the balance at the end of the defects liability period.^[24] Bank guarantees are the common substitute where a contractor would rather not have cash locked up. How retention and security interact with your contract is set by the general conditions — we unpack that side in our AS 4000 vs AS 2124 guide — but the Acts increasingly override the contract in three ways.

Notice before recourse. In WA, a party must give at least 5 business days’ written notice, with reasons, before calling on retention money or a performance bond — a statutory requirement that overrides any contract clause saying otherwise.^[25] Victoria adopted the same 5-business-day notice rule from 15 April 2026 as part of a new statutory framework covering bank guarantees, bonds and cash retention alike.^[26]

Release you can enforce. Victoria’s new framework gives contractors a statutory right to the return of security after the defects liability period ends, and overrides contractual provisions that try to delay release beyond the statutory timeframes.^[26] Everywhere else, the practical tool is the payment claim itself: retention due for release is a claimable amount, which means the schedule-or-pay machinery and adjudication apply to it. A polite email chasing retention can be ignored; an endorsed payment claim for it cannot.

Swap rights. WA’s scheme lets a party obtain release of retention money by substituting a compliant performance bond — unconditional and irrevocable — converting locked cash back into working capital mid-contract.^[25]

The management discipline: treat retention as a ledger, not a memory. Register every amount withheld from you (and every amount you withhold), diarise practical completion and defects liability end dates, and put the release into a payment claim the month it falls due.

7. Trust accounts in Queensland, NSW and WA

Trust requirements answer a different question from the payment cycle: not when you get paid, but whether the money still exists if someone above you goes broke. Three jurisdictions run statutory schemes, and they are very different animals. Whether your money sits inside one is the question that decides where you rank when a party above you fails — see insolvency up the contractual chain.

Queensland: project and retention trusts — paused mid-rollout

Queensland is the only state that requires project trust accounts: on an eligible contract, the head contractor opens a dedicated account per project, principal payments flow into it, and subcontractors are paid from it — quarantining their money from the head contractor’s general funds. As at July 2026, the framework applies to Queensland Government and Hospital and Health Service contracts of $1 million or more, and to private sector, local government, statutory authority and government-owned corporation contracts of $10 million or more, where more than half the contract price is for project trust work.^[27]

The planned expansion — to $3 million-plus private contracts from March 2025 and all $1 million-plus contracts from October 2025 — was paused by proclamation on 31 January 2025, with no new dates set. The Queensland Productivity Commission’s construction inquiry, whose final report landed on 21 January 2026, recommended keeping the rollout paused indefinitely pending a formal review, finding no solid evidence the accounts had reduced non-payment; the government’s response accepted the great majority of the inquiry’s recommendations.^[28] Translation for an SME: if you are not already captured, do not expect the thresholds to drop soon — but the existing tiers are fully in force and audited by the QBCC.

Retention trust accounts ride alongside: where a project trust is required for the head contract, parties withholding retention must hold it in a retention trust account — with Commonwealth, state, state authority and local government contracting parties exempt from that obligation.^[27] If you subcontract on a $12 million private job or a $2 million state government job in Queensland, your progress payments and your retention are both sitting in statutory trusts.

NSW: retention money trusts on $20 million-plus projects

NSW protects one thing: subcontractors’ retention money on big jobs. A head contractor whose contract with the principal is worth $20 million or more must hold retention taken from subcontractors in a trust account with an authorised deposit-taking institution — deposited within 5 business days of withholding it, notified to Building Commission NSW, withdrawable only under the subcontract, by written agreement, on an adjudication determination or by court order, and reported on annually. The money is not available to pay the head contractor’s own debts, and subcontractors are entitled to a ledger at least every three months.^[29] For a civil SME, the practical significance is as a beneficiary: on a $20 million-plus project, ask for the ledger — it is your early-warning system on the head contractor’s discipline.

WA: retention trusts on almost everything

WA went broadest. Since 1 February 2024, retention money under any construction contract worth more than $20,000 must be held in a dedicated trust account with a recognised financial institution, established within 10 business days of entering the contract — extending a scheme that had applied to $1 million-plus contracts since February 2023. Head contracts where the state or Commonwealth is the principal, and small-scale residential work, are excluded; breaches carry fines of up to $50,000 for individuals and $250,000 for corporations.^[30] Unlike NSW, this catches the ordinary civil SME directly: if you hold retention from a subbie on a $150,000 WA drainage package, you are a trustee, with account, record-keeping and access obligations to match.

Victoria’s 2026 reforms notably did not introduce a trust scheme — protection there runs through the new performance-security rules instead — and South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT currently have no statutory trust requirements.

8. Getting paid by government: the policy layer

For a contractor working direct to a council, a state agency or the Commonwealth, a second layer sits on top of the Acts: procurement payment policies. They are not security of payment law — they are the buyer’s own rules about how fast it pays its bills — but they shape what payment terms you should expect, and accept, on government work.

• Commonwealth: under the Supplier Pay On-Time or Pay Interest Policy (RMG-417), non-corporate Commonwealth entities must pay within 5 calendar days where both sides use PEPPOL e-invoicing, and within 20 calendar days otherwise — and must pay interest on late amounts where the accrued interest exceeds $100.^[31] If you hold federal work, setting up e-invoicing is the single cheapest cashflow improvement available.
• NSW: the Faster Payment Terms Policy requires in-scope agencies to pay registered small businesses (under 20 full-time-equivalent staff, registered on buy.nsw) within 5 business days of a correctly rendered invoice. Construction work under a contract covered by the Security of Payment Act sits outside the policy — there, the Act’s maximum terms govern — so for civil contractors it mainly helps on supply, hire and services engagements.^[32]
• Victoria: the Fair Payments Policy requires departments and major agencies to pay invoices on contracts under $3 million within 10 business days, with supplier-initiated penalty interest on late payment — and Treasury’s public construction guidance applies it to works and construction services contracts under that threshold.^[33] For the $50K–$2M band, that covers most direct-to-government civil work in the state.
• Queensland: the On-time Payment Policy commits departments to paying registered small businesses (under 20 employees) within 20 calendar days, with penalty interest claimable on late, correctly rendered, undisputed invoices; a move to 5-business-day terms has been announced but not yet implemented.^[34]

Two practical steps make these policies real money. Register where registration is the trigger — buy.nsw as a small business, Queensland’s On-time Payment Small Business Register — and invoice correctly, to the agency’s authorised address, in its required format, because every one of these clocks starts only on receipt of a correctly rendered invoice. And remember the layering: a policy gives you the buyer’s promise; the Act gives you the enforcement machinery. You can hold both.

9. State-by-state reference guide

The sections above cover the concepts; this is the lookup. Each entry gives the Act, the numbers that matter, and the traps specific to that jurisdiction. All timeframes are statutory defaults or maximums — always check the contract for shorter periods.

New South Wales

Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW). Claims monthly, endorsed under the Act, with a supporting statement for head contractors. Payment schedule due in 10 business days. Maximum payment terms: 15 business days from claim for a principal paying a head contractor, 20 business days for payments to subcontractors (outside exempt residential contracts). Adjudication within 10 business days of a disputed schedule or 20 of a missed due date, with the section 17(2) notice route where no schedule was served; adjudicated amounts payable in 5 business days, backed by suspension rights and the payment withholding request.^[18] Business days exclude 27–31 December. Retention on $20 million-plus head contracts must sit in trust. Regulator: Building Commission NSW.

Victoria

Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic), heavily amended from 15 April 2026. The excluded amounts and claimable variations regimes are gone — variations, latent conditions, extension-of-time costs and delay damages can now go into payment claims and adjudication. Reference dates were replaced with a monthly entitlement; the claim long-stop is now at least 6 months from practical completion; payment schedules are due in 10 business days and lock in the respondent’s reasons; payment terms are capped at 20 business days; business days exclude 22 December to 10 January; and calling on security now requires 5 business days’ notice, with a statutory right to its return after the defects period.^[10] The amendments apply to existing contracts (though not to claims served, or adjudications on foot, before commencement) — so mid-project cashflow positions changed overnight in April 2026. No trust account scheme. Regulator: Victorian Building Authority.

Queensland

Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld). An ordinary invoice can be a payment claim; head contractors attach a supporting statement. Payment schedule due in 15 business days — or earlier if the contract says so, which courts enforce strictly. Payment is due on the contract date or 10 business days by default; where the work is, or includes, building work under the QBCC Act, terms longer than 15 business days (commercial building contracts) or 25 business days (subcontracts and construction management trade contracts) are void and the 10-day default takes over. Adjudicate through the QBCC registry within 30 business days of a disputed schedule or 20 of a missed due date, and serve a section 99 warning notice before suing on a statutory debt.^[19] Failing to pay a scheduled amount is an offence. Business days exclude 22 December to 10 January. Project and retention trusts apply at the $1 million (government) and $10 million (private and local government) tiers, with further rollout paused.

Western Australia

Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2021 (WA) — for contracts entered into from 1 August 2022; the Construction Contracts Act 2004 still governs older contracts. Claims monthly; final claims up to 28 days after the defects liability period or 6 months after completion. Payment schedule due in 15 business days; miss it and the claim becomes a statutory debt and you are barred from responding at adjudication. Maximum terms: 20 business days on head contracts, 25 on subcontracts. Adjudication applications within 20 business days; responses within 10; determinations within 10 (extendable to 20 by agreement); a review adjudication is available within 5 business days for $200,000-plus differences.^[20] Retention on contracts over $20,000 goes into trust; 5 business days’ notice before any recourse to security; unfair notice-based time bars can be declared void; the clock runs from actual receipt, weekends included. Regulator: Building and Energy (DEMIRS).

South Australia

Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 (SA). Claims must be endorsed and still run on reference dates — one claim per reference date, with unpaid amounts carried forward — served within the contract period or 6 months of last work. Payment schedule due in 15 business days; if the contract sets no due date, payment falls due 15 business days after the claim. Dispute a schedule at adjudication within 15 business days of receiving it; where none arrived, notify within 20 business days of the due date, allow 5 business days’ grace, then apply within 15.^[21] Determinations in about 10 business days, payable in 5. Domestic building work for a resident owner is excluded. Applications go through authorised nominating authorities.

Tasmania

Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 (Tas). Unusually, it covers domestic building work — but where the respondent is a resident landowner who is not a building practitioner, the schedule and default payment timeframes stretch from 10 to 20 business days. Otherwise: endorsed claims on reference dates, a 12-month claim window, schedules due in 10 business days, default payment in 10, and adjudication within 10 business days of a disputed schedule (with the section 21(4) second-chance route where no schedule was served).^[21] Business days exclude 27–31 December. Suspension on 2 business days’ notice; determinations payable in 5. Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS) publishes the claim requirements.

Australian Capital Territory

Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2009 (ACT), amended 11 March 2024. The amendments removed reference dates — claims can be made monthly from the end of each calendar month — and introduced a statutory due date: the earlier of 15 business days after the claim or the contract date. Notably, the 15-day maximum applies to head contractors and subcontractors alike, unlike NSW’s two-tier terms. Schedules are due in 10 business days; adjudicators decide within 10 days unless the parties agree to longer; and the changes apply to existing and new contracts.^[22] Resident-owner residential work (outside owner-builder arrangements) and construction contracts forming part of loan agreements are excluded.

Northern Territory

Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act 2004 (NT) — the last West Coast regime. There is no claim-and-schedule cycle; instead the Act implies terms into contracts that are silent: respond to a claim with a notice of dispute within 10 working days and pay the undisputed portion, or pay in full within 28 days — and a contract term allowing payment later than 50 days from the claim is read down to 28 days. A payment dispute (a claim rejected, disputed or unpaid at its due date) can be taken to adjudication within 65 working days of arising, and the determination is enforceable as a judgment.^[23] High-value contracts can opt out where the contract contains a compliant alternative dispute process, and mining extraction work is excluded. The Construction Contracts Registrar maintains the adjudicator register.

The comparison table

Jurisdiction	Act	Payment schedule due	Payment terms (default / maximum)	Trust or retention scheme
NSW	SOP Act 1999	10 bd	Max 15 bd principal→head; 20 bd to subcontractors	Retention trust — head contracts $20M+
VIC	SOP Act 2002 (reformed 15 Apr 2026)	10 bd	Max 20 bd	None — statutory performance-security rules instead
QLD	BIF Act 2017	15 bd	Default 10 bd; max 15 bd / 25 bd where QBCC-Act building work	Project + retention trusts ($1M gov; $10M private/local gov; rollout paused)
WA	SOP Act 2021	15 bd	Max 20 bd head contracts; 25 bd subcontracts	Retention trusts — contracts over $20K (non-government)
SA	SOP Act 2009 (SA)	15 bd	Default 15 bd	None
TAS	SOP Act 2009 (Tas)	10 bd (20 bd resident owner)	Default 10 bd (20 bd resident owner)	None
ACT	SOP Act 2009 (ACT), amended Mar 2024	10 bd	Max 15 bd, all tiers	None
NT	CC(SOP) Act 2004	n/a — notice of dispute within 10 working days	28 days if contract silent; 50+ day terms read down to 28 days	None

bd = business days, as defined by each Act (the definitions differ — see section 3). Figures are statutory defaults and maximums current at July 2026; contracts can set shorter periods, and the per-state sections above carry the sources.

10. The civil contractor’s payment playbook

The legislation only works for contractors who run a system. None of what follows needs a lawyer — it needs the same administrative discipline that produces a compliant tender, applied for the life of the contract.

• Build a claim calendar per jurisdiction. One claim per month, served on a fixed date, endorsed under the Act, as a PDF attachment to the contractually nominated address — with the state’s business-day definition and shutdown period built in. Serve it even when the relationship is warm; a valid claim costs nothing and preserves every right.
• Price the payment terms before you sign. At tender stage, check the draft contract’s payment clause against the statutory maximums in the table above — anything longer is either void or a warning sign — and treat a principal’s payment reputation as a genuine go/no-go factor. The cost of carrying slow money belongs in your tender pricing, not your overdraft.
• Run the respondent side just as hard. Every subcontractor claim you receive gets a payment schedule inside your state’s window with complete reasons — because unstated reasons are lost, and in Queensland an unpaid scheduled amount is an offence. December claims are urgent, not holiday reading.
• Escalate on a ladder, in writing. Reminder at the due date; then a letter identifying the statutory position (no compliant schedule, amount now a debt); then the second-chance notice where the Act requires one; then adjudication. Most disputes settle on the second rung — but only when the first rung was a valid claim.
• Keep the evidence spine. Site diaries, delivery dockets, survey records, signed variation approvals and photos are what win adjudications — and they are the same records that become the case studies and claims evidence in your next tender. One filing discipline serves both.
• Track retention like a debtor. A live register of every amount withheld, diarised to practical completion and defects-period end dates, with release claimed through an endorsed payment claim the month it falls due — and, where you hold retention in WA or under a Queensland trust contract, the trust account obligations met to the letter.
• Switch on the government fast lanes. PEPPOL e-invoicing for Commonwealth work, buy.nsw small business registration, Queensland’s On-time Payment register — and invoices rendered exactly to each agency’s requirements, because every policy clock starts at “correctly rendered.”

TenderBuilt’s core work is winning the contract — but our post-award support exists because the fortnight after award is when payment terms, claim procedures and security arrangements get locked in, and it is far cheaper to set them up correctly than to litigate them later. If you have won work and want the payment machinery set up properly — claim templates, a compliant calendar, retention tracking — the contact details below are the place to start.

1. Holding Redlich, Victoria’s far-reaching security of payment reforms have now commenced (April 2026) — holdingredlich.com; MinterEllison, Changes to Victoria’s Security of Payment regime have now commenced (15 April 2026) — minterellison.com. The amending Act is the Building Legislation Amendment (Fairer Payments on Jobsites and Other Matters) Act 2025 (Vic). ↩
2. Queensland Building and Construction Commission, Pausing the further rollout of trust accounts (10 February 2025) — qbcc.qld.gov.au; Queensland Productivity Commission, Construction productivity inquiry page (final report released 21 January 2026) — qpc.qld.gov.au. ↩
3. Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (Building and Energy), Security of payment — commerce.wa.gov.au; MinterEllison, A new era for security of payment in WA — minterellison.com. ↩
4. Construction Law Made Easy, Northern Territory (Security of Payment chapter) — constructionlawmadeeasy.com. ↩
5. McLeods Lawyers, 15 business days: respond or pay in full under WA building contracts (2024) — mcleods.com.au, describing the “pay now, argue later” scheme and its interim character. ↩
6. NSW Government, About Security of Payment for construction contractors — nsw.gov.au; Holding Redlich, NSW Security of Payment Legislation — holdingredlich.com/sopa. ↩ ↩
7. SA Small Business Commission, Security of Payment Act — sasbc.sa.gov.au; Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (Tas), Security of payment – making a claim — cbos.tas.gov.au. ↩ ↩
8. Queensland Building and Construction Commission, Request payment — qbcc.qld.gov.au. ↩
9. NSW Government, About Security of Payment — nsw.gov.au; K&L Gates, Western Australia set for commencement of new progress payment regime (2022) — klgates.com; ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, Security of payments — planning.act.gov.au. ↩
10. Baker McKenzie, Victoria’s Security of Payment regime overhauled (April 2026) — bakermckenzie.com; Hamilton Locke, No pay, no delay: understanding the long-awaited amendments to the Victorian Security of Payment Act (April 2026) — hamiltonlocke.com.au; Holding Redlich (n 1). ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
11. EstimateOne, BIF Act QLD: the subbie’s guide to getting paid (2026) — estimateone.com, on section 75 timeframes and service by attachment rather than link. ↩ ↩
12. NSW Government, Security of payment for construction contractors FAQs — nsw.gov.au; Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works, Progress payments — housing.qld.gov.au. ↩
13. Queensland Building and Construction Commission, Business days and the holiday period — Security of Payment — qbcc.qld.gov.au; Align Law, Victoria’s Security of Payment reforms (2026) — alignlaw.com.au; EstimateOne, Security of Payment Act NSW: a subbie’s guide (2026) — estimateone.com; Adjudicate Today, Tasmania Security of Payment definitions — adjudicate.com.au. ↩
14. Pinsent Masons, WA court confirms time of actual receipt is what matters for Security of Payment Act time limits (December 2025) — pinsentmasons.com. ↩
15. Holding Redlich, NSW Security of Payment Legislation and Security of Payment QLD — holdingredlich.com; K&L Gates (n 9) for WA; SA Small Business Commission (n 7); CBOS Tasmania (n 7); ACT EPSDD (n 9); MinterEllison (n 1) for Victoria. ↩ ↩
16. K&L Gates (n 9); McLeods Lawyers (n 5) on the WA bar to responding without a schedule (s 34); Hamilton Locke (n 10) on Victoria’s new reasons lock. ↩
17. Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works, Progress payments — housing.qld.gov.au (offence and penalty); Merlo Law, Can you deduct backcharges without a strict BIF Act payment schedule? (2026) — merlolaw.com.au, discussing Allencon Pty Ltd v Palmgrove Holdings Pty Ltd [2023] QCA 6. ↩ ↩
18. Turtons, Everything you need to know about the NSW Security of Payment Act — turtons.com; NSW Government, About Security of Payment — nsw.gov.au. ↩ ↩ ↩
19. Wallace Law Group, Payment claims v payment schedules — what you need to know — wallacelawgroup.com.au (BIF Act ss 76–79, 99; QBCC Act ss 67U, 67W). ↩ ↩
20. Johnson Winter Slattery, Security of payment: tips for contract management in Western Australia — jws.com.au; K&L Gates (n 9); Crisp Law, Key obligations under WA’s Security of Payment regime (2025) — crisplaw.com.au. ↩ ↩
21. SA Small Business Commission (n 7); Procore, Security of Payment Act South Australia and Security of Payment Act Tasmania — procore.com; CBOS Tasmania (n 7). ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
22. ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, Security of payments — planning.act.gov.au; Addisons, Security of Payment Act — what’s new for the construction industry? (2024) — addisons.com. ↩ ↩
23. Construction Law Made Easy (n 4); Northern Territory Government, Construction contracts and resolving disputes — nt.gov.au (the 28-day override of 50-plus-day terms). ↩ ↩
24. NSW Government, Retention money held by head contractors — nsw.gov.au. ↩
25. Grant Thornton, WA payment security reforms: Phase 3 effective from February 1 2024 — grantthornton.com.au; MinterEllison, Introduction of Stage 2 of Security of Payment in WA — minterellison.com. ↩ ↩
26. Align Law (n 13); Hamilton Locke (n 10) on the new Victorian performance-security framework. ↩ ↩
27. Queensland Building and Construction Commission, Trust account rollout and Pausing the further rollout of trust accounts — qbcc.qld.gov.au; Master Builders Queensland, Project Trust Accounts (PTAs) — mbqld.com.au. ↩ ↩
28. Holding Redlich, Productivity is paramount — lessons from the Queensland Productivity Commission’s construction inquiry (February 2026) — holdingredlich.com; Queensland Productivity Commission (n 2); Queensland Treasury, Landmark reforms to tackle construction industry productivity (2026) — treasury.qld.gov.au. ↩
29. NSW Government, Retention money held by head contractors — nsw.gov.au; Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Regulation 2020 (NSW), Part 2 — legislation.nsw.gov.au. ↩
30. Grant Thornton (n 25); Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (n 3); Clayton Utz, WA’s new Security of Payment laws toolkit — claytonutz.com. ↩
31. Department of Finance (Cth), Supplier Pay On-Time or Pay Interest Policy (RMG-417) — finance.gov.au. ↩
32. buy.nsw, Faster Payment Terms Policy — info.buy.nsw.gov.au; Sparke Helmore, Faster Payment Terms for small suppliers to NSW Government — sparke.com.au. ↩
33. Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions (Vic), Contracts for fair payments — djsir.vic.gov.au; Department of Treasury and Finance (Vic), Compliance with legislative and policy requirements (Public Construction – Guidance 7.2.1) — dtf.vic.gov.au. ↩
34. Business Queensland, Queensland Government payments to small businesses (On-time Payment Policy) — business.qld.gov.au. ↩