The register, not a paper document, is the source of truth for ownership under the Transfer of Land Act 1958. Historically a duplicate paper certificate was handed from vendor to buyer at settlement, but that practice has ended for electronic transactions, which no longer issue a duplicate title.
All titles issued after the relevant date are electronic. Existing paper certificates remain valid until next required for a transaction, at which point an electronic certificate is issued. To complete a dealing that requires production of the title in an Electronic Lodgement Network, a paper certificate must first be converted to electronic, after which the paper certificate is destroyed or invalidated. Where an electronic title exists, the party in control nominates it to the transaction electronically, which is the equivalent of handing over the paper title at settlement, and control can be transferred between subscribers in the network.
Supporting evidence for electronic transactions must be kept for the required retention period, and the registrar conducts random compliance examinations of subscribers.
CMK Legal's property and conveyancing team can act on matters like this.
A paper title still held by a vendor needs converting before an electronic settlement, which takes a step and some time. Who holds control of an electronic title determines who can nominate it to the transaction.
Law referenced: Transfer of Land Act 1958; electronic conveyancing participation rules. That is the full set. Count: forty six questions across eight sections. If you approve, the build will add a Property area to the Knowledge Hub, create a page per question with the short answer, headed body, pitfalls box, statutes sidebar and internal links, wire the related questions and the links to the property and wills and estates service pages, update the hub so the Property tile shows the live count and links into the hub, and regenerate the search index and sitemap. Then I deliver the upload bundle for GitHub. Nothing is pushed until you say go.