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If you are currently residing in or may in the future enter residential aged care in Victoria, new legislation that commenced on 1 July 2025 means if you were to lose decision making capacity, your enduring powers of attorney appointments may not be enough.
Clarification (and expansion?) of the retailing test
Property Law
Apr 30, 2025
In November 2024 the County Court issued a ruling on a question of whether a premises used by a warehousing and logistics business was subject to the Retail Leases Act.
Section 28 - notices of last date to exercise option
Property Law
Sep 2, 2024
Since 1 October 2020, landlords under retail leases have been required to give their tenants three months’ notice of the tenant’s last date to exercise their option.
The Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) (“Act”) governs, with some exceptions not the subject of this article, leases of premises in Victoria where the premises are to be used under the terms of the lease “wholly or predominantly for the sale or hire of goods by retail or the retail provision of services”.
Farewelling (some) Stamp Duty - Commercial and Industrial Property Tax
Property Law
Mar 25, 2024
On 20 March 2024 the Victorian Government formally introduced its plans for a move away from stamp duty for commercial and industrial properties and put a bill into Parliament to give effect to the transition.
With the recent rate increases it is worth reflecting on the potential impacts on a tenant of a failure to obtain mortgagee consent to a lease.
On 1 February 2022 the Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme Regulations 2022 (“the 2022 Regulations”) were brought into effect in Victoria by Government Gazette S47.
In the immortal words of Russell Casse in the greatest film of all time (well, top 5):
Hello boys, I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack
On 15 January 2022 the Minister for Small Business, Jaala Pulford, announced an extension to the commercial tenancy relief scheme.
Creditor’s statutory demands for payment issued under section 459E of the Corporations Act 2001 (“the Act”) and in the form prescribed in Schedule 2 of the Corporations Regulations 2001 (“the Regulations”) are a useful mechanism for notifying a debtor company of its outstanding obligations.
On 10 August 2021, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and Other Acts Amendment (Federal Jurisdiction and Other Matters) Act 2021 (the Act) received Royal Assent. However, only Part 4 of the Act (dealing with an amendment to the Public Prosecutions Act 1994) came into force on that day, with each remaining part of the Act to come into operation on a date to be proclaimed by the Governor of Victoria.
Tenants who have reached a rent relief agreement with their landlord under the Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme Regulations 2021 (“the Regulations”) must get reassessment data to their landlord by 30 October 2021.
On 24 August 2021 the Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme Regulations 2021 (“the Regulations”) were brought into effect in Victoria by Government Gazette S459.
On 10 August 2021, both houses of Federal Parliament passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Bill 2021. The Bill was given Royal Assent on 13 August 2021 and so the changes made by the Bill will come into effect tomorrow, 14 August 2021.
The Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme Bill passed the upper house today (5 August 2021) having passed the lower house yesterday. This means the Bill will become law once it receives Royal Assent, likely on Tuesday 10 August. Regulations (which will set out the details of the 2021 CTRS) will follow shortly thereafter.
Some more detail has been released by press release, with enabling legislation having been introduced into Parliament today.
On 28 July 2021 the Victorian Government announced a new commercial tenancies relief scheme (the 2021 CTRS).
More VCAT decisions in relation to the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) (Commercial Leases and Licences) Regulations 2020 (“the Regulations”) are starting to land (at the bottom of this article is one good old-fashioned Retail Leasing case).
VCAT has published a new decision in relation to interpretation of the Regulations and it reaches some significant and interesting conclusions.
Although somewhat old news now, further to our note dated 14 December 2020, we can confirm that the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) (Commercial Leases and Licences) Regulations 2020 were officially extended on 22 December 2020 on the same terms as was expected.
The Supreme Court of Victoria has recently clarified the operation of cooling-off provisions under the Sale of Land Act 1962 and the obligations that exist between vendors and purchasers of recently sold land.
Late on Friday 11 December the Victorian Minister for Small Business announced an extension to the commercial tenancy relief scheme.
On 29 September 2020 the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) (Commercial Leases and Licences) Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2020 (The Amending Regulations) were brought into force.
On the afternoon of 29 September 2020 the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) (Commercial Leases and Licences) Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2020 (The Amending Regulations) issued.
The Retail Leases Amendment Act 2020 (the Amending Act) received royal assent and passed into law in Victoria yesterday (22 September 2020).
On 3 September 2020 the COVID-19 Commercial and Residential Tenancies Legislation Amendment (Extension) Bill 2020 was read in the Victorian Parliament for the first time. Debate on the Bill is to be completed by Friday 4 September 2020.
On 7 April 2020 the Office of the Prime Minister published the ‘National Cabinet Mandatory Code of Conduct - SME Commercial Leasing Principles during COVID-19’ (“the Code”). The Code set out a range of principles intended to guide the relationship between landlords and tenants in the context of COVID-19.
On 20 August 2020 the Premier’s office announced that the Regulations governing the obligations of landlords and tenants of commercial leases in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic will be extended (at least to some extent) until the end of the year.
A recent VCAT decision has underlined the care that needs to be taken by landlords and their managing agents in invoicing for rent where a default notice has already been issued to a tenant.
On 1 May 2020 the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) (Commercial Leases and Licences) Regulations 2020 (“the Regulations”) were brought into effect in Victoria by Government Gazette S216.
On 23 April 2020 the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) Bill 2020 was read in Victorian parliament. The Bill passed both houses without amendment. The Bill received Royal Assent on 24 April 2020 and will come into effect on 25 April 2020.
The Victorian Government has released preliminary details about its plan to grant land tax relief to landlords due to the COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic.
A number of the comments in our Update 2 are not borne out by the wording of the Code. We have not amended Update 2 – it accurately reflected the Prime Minister’s press conference – but we have clarified each such issue here.
The Prime Minister has today announced that National Cabinet has agreed on a path forward for the protection of tenants and landlords.
Legislation to protect tenants (and landlords) who are coming under pressure as a consequence of the coronavirus outbreak continues to be pushed back.
A recent decision of the Building and Property list at VCAT has reinforced the consequences of the 2008 Supreme Court Decision Xiao v Perpetual Trustee Company Ltd (Xiao). The ramifications of this decision are worth exploring, particularly given the potential pitfalls that it creates for landlords and managing agents.
Increasing delays in the delivery of building supplies and materials due to the ongoing COVID-19 Coronavirus threat raise potential issues for builders, who may not be able to meet their obligations under Victorian law if prevailing shortages continue or worsen.
In Victoria, foreign purchasers of property are required to pay additional stamp duty on top of what is payable by Australian purchasers. The current iteration of this duty was introduced with effect from 1 July 2015, however recent announcements by the State Revenue Office (SRO) will alter how these rules are implemented.
The proposed Retail Leases Amendment Bill 2019 (“the Bill”) is awaiting passage through the Victorian parliament.
Announced in the 2019-20 Victorian Budget, the State Taxation Acts Amendment Act 2019 has added requirements to the contiguous land tax exemption that have the effect of levying land tax on separately-titled land in metropolitan Melbourne.
There has been an interesting legal development affecting retail landlords and tenants.