Satisfaction of Judgment in the ACT: How to Close an ACAT Order

Why Recording Satisfaction Matters

You enforced your ACAT order through the ACT Magistrates Court, the debtor finally paid, and now you want to move on. There is one more step you cannot skip: formally recording that the judgment debt has been satisfied.

Until you file a notice of satisfaction, the court record can continue to show the judgment debt as unpaid. If an enforcement order is active, take steps with the court and affected third party to stop collection after the debt has been paid. A debt redirection order is served on a financial institution; an earnings redirection order is served on an employer.

Recording satisfaction is not optional courtesy — it is a legal obligation on the judgment creditor once the full amount (principal, post-judgment interest, and recoverable costs) has been received.

Calculating the Final Balance

Before you file anything, confirm that the debt is actually cleared in full. The payment allocation order under ACT enforcement rules works like this:

1. Recoverable court costs first — every filing fee, Sheriff execution fee, and process-server disbursement you paid during enforcement
2. Accrued post-judgment interest — calculated daily at the Reserve Bank of Australia cash rate plus 6%, running from the date the order was registered in the Magistrates Court
3. Outstanding principal — the original ACAT order amount minus any earlier payments

If the debtor paid through an instalment order (Form 2.54) over several months, reconcile every payment against this priority stack. A common mistake is treating the final instalment as clearing the principal when accrued interest still leaves a small residual balance. Run the numbers before you file.

How to File the Notice of Satisfaction

The formal document is the Notice of Satisfaction filed at the ACT Magistrates Court Civil Registry at 4–6 Knowles Place, Canberra City.

Here is the step-by-step process:

1. Prepare the notice. Include the court case number (or ACAT reference number used at registration), the names of the enforcement creditor and debtor, the date the final payment was received, and a statement that the judgment debt including interest and costs has been paid in full.
2. File at the registry. Lodge the notice with the Magistrates Court Civil Registry. Check the current Magistrates Court civil fee schedule or confirm with the Registry whether a fee applies.
3. Serve the debtor. Send a copy of the filed notice to the enforcement debtor so their records match.

Discharging Active Enforcement Tools

Filing the notice alone does not automatically stop enforcement machinery that is already running. You need to take separate action for each active tool:

• Earnings redirection order — write to the employer confirming the debt is paid and that deductions should stop. File a discharge application with the court if the order was court-issued.
• Debt redirection order — notify the bank or financial institution in writing that the order is satisfied and no further funds should be redirected.
• Seizure and sale order — if the Sheriff has not yet executed, contact the Sheriff's Office to withdraw the order.
• Charging order on property — if you registered a charging order against the debtor's land at the ACT Land Titles Register (Access Canberra), follow the court and Registry's current process to discharge or withdraw it.

Failing to discharge these tools exposes you to liability. An employer who keeps deducting wages after the debt is paid, because you never told them to stop, creates a problem that lands on you.

What If the Debtor Paid Only Part of the Debt?

A partial payment does not trigger a satisfaction filing. Instead, update your running balance ledger — deducting the payment from costs, then interest, then principal in that priority order — and keep your enforcement tools active for the remaining balance.

If the debtor offers a lump sum to settle for less than the full amount, that is a commercial decision. The court does not force you to accept a discount. But if you do accept a reduced amount as full and final settlement, record that agreement in writing, file the satisfaction notice referencing the settlement terms, and discharge all active enforcement tools.

After Filing: What Changes

Once the notice is processed, the court record shows the judgment as satisfied. Any separate land-title registration or enforcement order may require its own discharge step; follow the court's directions and notify the affected third party.

Confirm interest, costs, and the running balance before filing, because recording full satisfaction closes the enforcement matter.

The full enforcement process — from registering your ACAT order through each enforcement tool to closing the judgment — is mapped step by step in our ACT ACAT Order Enforcement Guide, including a post-judgment balance ledger to track every dollar from first payment to final satisfaction.

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