Priestley 11 · Usually second year
Property for Australian law students
Property is where a lot of students hit their first genuinely technical subject. The Torrens system put a register in place of the old chain of title, and most of the assessment is about what the register does and does not guarantee, and what happens when two people both have a claim to the same land.
What the subject covers
- The distinction between real and personal property, and between legal and equitable interests
- Possession, title, and relativity of title
- Native title and its recognition at common law
- The Torrens system, registration and indefeasibility
- The exceptions to indefeasibility, including fraud and the in personam exception
- Co-ownership, leases, easements, covenants and mortgages
- Priorities between competing interests, legal and equitable
Topic coverage varies between law schools and between jurisdictions. Your subject guide is the one that counts.
Cases you will meet in an Australian Property course
Three decisions that turn up in Property across Australian law schools. Some of them are English decisions that Australian courses still teach as core authority, so this is a list of what you will be taught rather than a list of Australian judgments. Treat it as a starting point rather than a reading list. Your course sets its own, and it is the one that counts.
Mabo v Queensland (No 2)
(1992) 175 CLR 1
Recognition of native title at common law, and the rejection of terra nullius.
Breskvar v Wall
(1971) 126 CLR 376
Title by registration rather than registration of title.
Frazer v Walker
[1967] 1 AC 569
Immediate indefeasibility, and the in personam exception.
Longer explainer: Mabo v Queensland (No 2) explained
How the subject is assessed
A priorities or indefeasibility problem question is the standard mid-semester assessment, and the final exam usually pairs a land problem with a shorter question on personal property or native title.
Using CaseSharp for Property
Problem questions
Priorities questions turn on which interest arose when, and on what the register recorded. Every citation in an answer opens at the paragraph, so you can check the proposition before you build the answer on it.
Case notes
Property case notes often ask you to trace a principle across two or three decisions. Briefs make the sequence visible and keep each holding attached to its paragraph.
AGLC4 essays
Property essays cite state legislation heavily, and each jurisdiction names its Act differently. The generator handles full form and short form and flags anything it cannot parse.
Exam scaffolds
A priorities flowchart is the classic Property scaffold. Check the citing cases for each case on it, so you catch anything that has moved on the chart since you drew it.
CaseSharp is a research and study tool. It does not write your problem question answer or your research essay. Every substantive output carries a human-review notice, and where there is no authority to support an answer, Sharp says so instead of inventing a case to fill the gap.
Try it on a Property question
Create a free account and run a Property query like the one below, so you can see what comes back before you decide anything.
indefeasibility of title Breskvar v Wall
73,000 audited Australian decisions, current to the end of April 2026.