Answer by Neha Sharma, Hillsdale 2036 NSW

• The Torrens system was primarily introduced in Australia to remove the need for a chain of title deeds to prove an individual’s ownership rights to a parcel of land. The deeds system can be impractical, costly, uncertain and is somewhat outdated given the advantages that technology has provided.
• Some of the most frequently cited benefits of the Torrens system include:
  • The fact that it encourages landowners to register their interests in land thus creating a more complete and comprehensive understanding of land ownership across Australia. Title to a property depends on compulsory registration with the governments land registration system. In New South Wales this is Land and Property Information (LPI). The state government guarantees that the certificate of title discloses all registered interests in a property.
  • Retrospective investigation into the chain of title is no longer required. This saves costs of lengthy investigations and limits to a large extent the scope of the nemo dat quod non habet rule. This legal rule states that one cannot give what he or she does not have. If a purchaser makes even minimal inquiries into the register before buying they will not be at risk of paying for property that the seller doesn't have the right to sell. This is an advantage compared to the historical system where buyers had to satisfy themselves that there was an unbroken chain of valid title from the time of the first land grant to the present.
  • Categories of ownership are clear and interests in land are generally easy to transfer.
  • As most interests are registered priority disputes are easily resolved. For example interests registered earlier in time are given priority.
  • The register is publically available for a small fee.