Home Property Australia RETAIL SHOP LEASES AMENDMENT BILL 2015

RETAIL SHOP LEASES AMENDMENT BILL 2015

  • September 19, 2017

The Property Council has provided a submission to the Education, Tourism and Small Business Committee’s investigation of the Retail Shop Leases Amendment Bill 2015. This is expected to be the final contribution in a five year period of consultation across three State Governments.

Due to the extensive consultation process, the majority of the amendments included in the Bill enjoy the unanimous support of all stakeholders. The Property Council welcomed those amendments which will reduce red tape whilst retaining the consumer protections of the legislation, however also noted additional opportunities for red tape reduction.

The Committee will now consider the submissions, and will provide a report back to Parliament by 5 February 2016.

 

Retail Shop Leases Amendment Bill 2015 The Retail Shop Leases Amendment Bill 2015 was introduced into Parliament yesterday (13 October). This Bill is the culmination of over four years of stakeholder consultation on the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994, which included a discussion paper, options paper, and comprehensive stakeholder reference group meetings. The Property Council and Shopping Centre Council were among 11 stakeholders on the reference group, tasked with considering 127 options for changes to the Act. While not all of the changes supported by the Property Council have been included in the Bill, a number of features will serve to reduce red tape for members, including: • Revised definition of retail shop lease, to exclude tenancies greater than 1,000m2, • Exclusion from the operation of the Act of certain non-retail leases in non-retail areas of a shopping centre, • Provisions for major lessees to opt out of a void rent review provision, • Limitations in compensation to allow lessors to respond to emergency situations, • Ability for lessees to waive the 7 day timeframe during which a lessor disclosure statement must be provided, and • Clarity around when a lease is entered into. The Bill has been referred to the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Parliamentary Committee for consideration with a date for reporting and submissions yet to be determined. The Bill, Explanatory Notes and Explanatory Speech can be found here.