The information provided in this guide is not intended to amount to legal advice. Professional assistance may be required to determine the most appropriate action to protect your legal rights. Please read our Terms of Use on the Land Titles Registration policy and procedure guides web page. Landgate accepts no responsibility where parties print this guide and seek to rely on information that is out of date.
1. Record of Certificate of Title4
With a digital register, the certificate of title is a computer record of digital data providing the current ownership details, the legal land description and all current registered details for the parcel of land. A Record of Certificate of Title is a copy of the Certificate of Titles showing what is contained in the digital register for a particular piece of land at the exact time of the search of the Record.
No sketch for the land, or unregistered interests are shown on the Record of Certificate of Title.
Two main features of a Record of Certificate of Title are:
- The lot on survey reference for a particular piece of land. Used for searching and to describe the land in documents and evidence.
- The Volume and Folio Number: Used for searching and to describe the land in documents and evidence.5
4Updated 07/08/2023 to remove reference to duplicate certificate of title.
5Updated 16/08/2023
2. Land description
In the digital register the land description for a piece of land has been simplified to show only the Lot on Survey information. Interests previously shown in the land description (like depth limits etc.) are now shown in the Limitations, Interests, Encumbrances and Notifications section.
3. Registered Proprietor (First Schedule)3
The ownership particulars disclosed in the Registered Proprietor section is an aggregation of the current ownership. It is not necessary to look at a number of endorsements (as in the case of some paper titles) to ascertain the current proprietorship of the land.
The reference to the document number and registration date in the first schedule is the last dealing affecting the current ownership. These dealings can be annotated with a code, please refer to the below table for a list of these codes and the corresponding transaction type. Any other dealings affecting current ownership which have been previously registered will be shown in the Historical Database.
| CODE | TRANSACTION TYPE |
| A | Application |
| AF | Application for new titles (subject to survey) |
| AS | Application to register Strata Titles Scheme |
| ND | Survivorship |
| T | Transfer |
| TA | Transmission |
| TF | Transfer to Freehold |
| TP | Transfer (Power of Sale) |
| TS | Transfer (Sale for Rates) |
| VO | Vesting Order |
| TW | Transfer by Sheriff |
3Section updated 11/02/2022
4. Limitations, Interests, Encumbrances and Notifications (Second Schedule)4
All interests previously shown in the land description and second schedule of a paper title are now shown in this section. Other notations affecting the land formerly shown on a paper title are now included in the second schedule. Some of these interests are as follows:
- Reference to the reservations, conditions and depth limits contained in the original grant, but not the specifics of the reservations, conditions and depth limits themselves.
- Easements that benefit and/or burden the land.
- Less Portion Resumed or Less Portion Dedicated notations that were formerly shown on the sketch of a paper title.
- Any other encumbrances etc. that were formerly shown in the second schedule of an original (paper) title.
and
- Crown Grants in Trust.
The endorsements in the Second Schedule can be divided into what is known as Prime and Sub endorsements. Prime endorsements are things like mortgages, charges and leases. Sub-endorsements are those affecting a prime endorsement.
If for example, a mortgage has been extended, the mortgage becomes the prime endorsement and the extension is the sub-endorsement. Sub-endorsements are shown directly under (indented) the prime endorsement, without regard to document number or date registered (i.e. documents are not necessarily shown in registration order.)
The last sub-endorsement affecting the proprietorship will show the outcome of previous endorsements affecting the proprietorship of the prime endorsement. This means that you only need to search the last sub-endorsement to ascertain the total position in respect to the prime Limitation, Interest, Encumbrance or Notification.
4Updated 07/08/2023 to remove reference to duplicate certificate of title.
5. Statements4
This is additional information provided that is not guaranteed by the government. It is information relevant to the land, but not (in most cases) previously available on the paper title. Statements appear toward the bottom of the Record of Certificate of Title after the words:
"-----END OF CERTIFICATE OF TITLE-----."
This section includes the following information:
- reference to where the sketch for the land may be obtained
- the previous title for the land
- the property street address of the land (or in some cases, no street address information available)
- the local government for the land
- the responsible agency (crown titles and freehold certificates of title for land held by the State of Western Australia, Commonwealth of Australia or instrumentality, authority or agency representing the State or Commonwealth)
and
- any Notes. This section contains any other recording of information that does not fit into the previous categories. Notes do not form part of the title. It is used as the electronic means to replace the old practice of making pencil notations on the paper original title. Notes include the following information:
- ending surveys (previously noted in the top right-hand corner of the paper original title)
- lodged dealing where the title is subject to dealing
- lapsed s.138D caveats.
4Updated 07/08/2023 to remove reference to duplicate certificate of title.