Earlier this year (and not for the first time in the Australian security of payment landscape) an intermediate appellate Court in one Australian State reached a different position on materially identical provisions in the security of payment scheme to that reached by the appellate Court in another State.

In Seymour Whyte Constructions Pty Ltd v Ostwald Bros Pty Ltd (in Liquidation) [2019] NSWCA 11, the NSW Court of Appeal declined to follow the Victorian Court of Appeal’s decision in Façade Treatment Engineering Pty Ltd (in liq) v Brookfield Multiplex Constructions Pty Ltd [2016] VSCA 247 on a key issue of security of payment legislation, with the NSW Court of Appeal holding that in NSW, key security of payment processes can be initiated (at least) by a claimant in liquidation.