Polish lawyer / Polish companies
Polish companies doing business in Australia
Unpaid invoices from Australian customers, contracts, leases in Victoria and setting up in Australia. Radek Dajer, a Polish-speaking lawyer in Victoria, advises Polish companies in Polish or in English.
What we help with
Choose what you need help with. Each one opens the detail further down this page.
A Polish-speaking lawyer for Polish companies
Polish companies sell goods and services to Australian customers, and some open a branch or a subsidiary here. When an Australian customer does not pay, when a distribution agreement or a lease needs to be signed, or when the business needs to be registered, advice on Australian law is needed.
We advise on Victorian law and Australian federal law, in Polish or in English, by phone, video and email. Where Polish law also matters, we work with the company’s lawyer in Poland.
Good to know
If an Australian customer becomes insolvent, a retention of title clause protects the supplier only if the supplier’s interest was registered on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) in time.
How we help Polish companies
Choose a topic to see what it involves and how we help.
Recovering money from customers, from a letter of demand to enforcement. Claims are brought in the Victorian courts, and a statutory demand can be served on any Australian company.
- Courts: the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria hears claims up to $100,000, and larger claims go to the County Court. Most claims for a debt under a contract must be started within 6 years of the date payment fell due.
- Statutory demands: a creditor owed a due and payable debt of at least $4,000 can serve a statutory demand on a company. The company has 21 days from service to pay or apply to court to set it aside. A demand should not be used for a genuinely disputed debt.
- A Polish judgment: judgments of some Polish courts can be registered in the Supreme Court of an Australian state or territory within 6 years after the judgment (Foreign Judgments Act 1991 (Cth)). We check whether your judgment qualifies before applying.
- Liquidation: if the customer goes into liquidation, the creditor lodges a proof of debt with the liquidator. Payments received in the 6 months before the liquidation, while the customer was insolvent, can be recovered as unfair preferences.
Contracts with Australian customers, distributors and suppliers, and terms of trade.
- The Vienna Convention: the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) generally applies to sales of goods between businesses in Poland and Australia, unless the parties exclude it. It has applied in Australia since 1989 and in Poland since 1996.
- Retention of title: in Australia a retention of title clause is a security interest that should be registered on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR). If it is not, it is lost if the customer becomes insolvent, and the supplier is an unsecured creditor.
- Timing: to keep priority over stock the customer will resell, the registration must be made before the customer takes possession of the goods.
- Unfair contract terms: since 9 November 2023 it has been unlawful, and can attract penalties, to propose or rely on an unfair term in a standard form contract with a small business, meaning fewer than 100 employees or turnover under $10 million.
Leasing a shop, office or warehouse in Victoria.
- Retail or not: the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) covers premises used wholly or mainly for retail sales or services. It does not cover a tenant whose shares are listed on a stock exchange outside Australia, or that tenant’s subsidiaries.
- Disclosure: for a retail lease, the landlord must give the tenant a disclosure statement and the proposed lease at least 14 days before the lease is entered into.
- Minimum term: a retail lease, including options, must generally run for at least 5 years, unless the tenant obtains a certificate from the Victorian Small Business Commission and gives it to the landlord.
- Other premises: offices, warehouses and factories are often outside the Act, and then the lease and the general law govern, including guarantees and the make-good obligation.
A branch of the Polish company, or an Australian subsidiary.
- A branch: a foreign company must register with ASIC before carrying on business in Australia. It needs a local agent and a registered office in Australia, and ASIC issues an ARBN.
- A subsidiary: an Australian proprietary company must have at least one director who ordinarily lives in Australia.
- Director IDs: every director, including a director of a registered foreign company, must have a director identification number before being appointed.
- ABN and GST: a foreign business may be able to obtain an ABN, and must register for GST (10%) once its GST turnover reaches $75,000. Talk to an accountant about tax.
Step by step
Recovering a debt, step by step
How we usually recover money from a customer in Victoria.
01
Documents
You send the contract, orders, invoices and correspondence. We check who the debtor is, where it is registered and whether the debt is disputed.
02
Letter of demand
We send a letter stating the amount, how it arises and a reasonable deadline. If the debtor offers to pay by instalments, we record the arrangement in writing.
03
Statutory demand
If the debtor is a company and the debt is not disputed, we can serve a statutory demand with a 21-day deadline.
04
Court
If the debtor still does not pay, we issue a claim in the Magistrates’ Court or the County Court. In the Magistrates’ Court, if no defence is filed within 21 days, we can apply for default judgment.
05
Enforcement
After judgment, the options include an oral examination, a warrant to seize property and attachment of earnings, or winding up a company.
How we work
Visit our Frankston office
435 Nepean Highway, Frankston VIC 3199
Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:30pm, by appointment
Notarial appointments
In person at our office, by appointment. Bring your passport or other photo identification.
By train
A short walk from Frankston station, at the end of the Frankston line from Melbourne.
Parking
Wilson Parking at 453 Nepean Highway, street parking on the Nepean Highway, and the car parks at McDonald’s across the road and at Dan Murphy’s.
Common questions
Can’t see your question? Call 1800 776 529 or send us a message.
Usually not. We work by phone, video and email, and documents can be signed electronically where the law allows.
Possibly. Judgments of some Polish courts can be registered in the Supreme Court of an Australian state or territory within 6 years after the judgment. If registration is not available, the judgment can be sued on in a new proceeding. A certified copy of the judgment and a notarised English translation are needed.
Only if the security interest has been registered on the PPSR, and in time. Otherwise, if the customer becomes insolvent, the supplier is an unsecured creditor.
Not always. A foreign company can carry on business in Australia by registering with ASIC as a foreign company, or through an Australian subsidiary. The choice depends on the business, tax and liability.
No. We are an Australian firm and advise on Victorian and Australian law. Where Polish law matters, we work with a lawyer or notary in Poland.
Yes. Radek Dajer speaks Polish and can take your instructions and explain your documents in Polish. See our Polish-language page.
Business insights
Australian directors owe clear legal duties under the Corporations Act 2001. Learn what those duties are, what the business judgment rule means, and how to avoid personal liability.
When a debtor fails to pay, knowing the correct legal steps can mean the difference between recovering your money and writing off the debt entirely.
Signing a commercial lease is one of the biggest financial commitments a business can make. A lawyer can identify risks before you are locked into a long-term obligation.
Talk to us about your business in Australia
Tell us briefly what has happened or what you are planning. We reply to every enquiry within one business day, by phone, email or text, whichever you prefer.
What happens next
- Send the form.
- We reply within one business day.
- We arrange a time to talk, or ask for any information or documents we need first.
Prefer to talk? Call 1800 776 529, Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:30pm.