Post-Judgment Interest on an ACT Court Judgment

The judgment amount you won at ACAT isn't frozen. Once your order is registered in the ACT Magistrates Court, statutory interest accrues daily on the unpaid balance. This means the longer the debtor takes to pay, the more they owe — and you're entitled to every dollar of that interest.

Here's how the calculation works.

The Rate

Post-judgment interest in the ACT runs at 6% above the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cash rate, calculated as simple interest on the outstanding principal.

Pre-judgment interest, when applicable, uses a different rate: 4% above the RBA cash rate.

Both rates are set by Schedule 2 of the Court Procedures Rules 2006.

The Formula

Post-judgment interest accrues daily:

Daily interest = Outstanding principal × (RBA cash rate + 6%) ÷ 365

For example, if the RBA cash rate is 4.35% and the outstanding principal is $10,000:

• Applicable rate: 4.35% + 6.00% = 10.35%
• Daily interest: $10,000 × 0.1035 ÷ 365 = $2.84 per day
• Monthly: roughly $86

Over the months — or years — it takes some debtors to pay, statutory interest adds a meaningful amount to the total recovery.

When Interest Starts Running

For an ACAT order, the interest timeline has two stages:

Pre-registration: Any interest before registration is governed by the original ACAT order or contractual entitlement up to the date of the tribunal determination.

Post-registration: Once the order is registered in the Magistrates Court under Section 71 of the ACAT Act, statutory post-judgment interest kicks in at the RBA + 6% rate. It runs from the date of registration until the debt is fully paid.

What to Include in Your Calculations

When calculating the total enforcement debt, add three components:

1. Outstanding principal — the original order amount minus any partial payments received
2. Accrued post-judgment interest — calculated daily on the declining principal balance
3. Recoverable court costs — filing fees, Sheriff execution fees, and other allowable disbursements

Payments received are applied in this order: court costs first, then accrued interest, then principal. This allocation order is standard under ACT enforcement rules and means early partial payments reduce costs and interest before touching the principal.

Tracking the Running Balance

The numbers matter. If you overstate the debt, the debtor can challenge it. If you understate it, you leave money on the table.

The Enforcing an ACAT Order in the ACT guide includes a post-judgment balance ledger that tracks principal, interest, and court costs as payments come in — so the total you claim on each enforcement application is always accurate.

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