In early 2014, significant lobbying by the Hire Industry regarding hires for an ‘indefinite’ term (ie a hire contract with no end date) and what constituted a Motor Vehicle resulted in changes being passed by the Federal Government which came into effect from 1 July 2014.
However, those changes were aimed squarely at the definition of what a ‘Motor Vehicle’ was rather than addressing the concerns regarding ‘indefinite’ term. And it is this ‘indefinite’ term which continues to cause problems for the industry and has resulted in the recent publication in the BRW by Oliver Shtein in the article ‘How the law is robbing hire companies and must be changed’
I note that Oliver appears to advocate an exemption from compliance with the PPSA for the Hire Industry which I believe is unlikely to occur. What I do believe however, which is consistent with the comments of Oliver is that the hire industry will continue to be adversely impacted by the PPSA. Not only will those providers of equipment who fail to register continue to lose out but they will also suffer the direct monetary loss when their clients go broke.
Whilst the case of Carrafa & Others v Doka Formwork Pty Ltd is one of the first in this area of law (which was handed down in November 2014 ) it will by no means be the last. This case (and those like it) continue to sound the warning bell but I fear that many still fail to heed its warning.
Adrian Hunter 