By James Bottomley, Partner;Meryl Snow, Partner;Natalie Gerrard, Special Counsel;Craig Willey, Senior Associate
The Department of Justice and Attorney-General has released a discussion paper to encourage public comment on the topics under consideration as part of the latest review of Queensland's retail shop lease legislation.
The Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 (Qld) and Retail Shop Leases Regulation 1996 (Qld) must be reviewed every seven years. With the current review due to be completed by June 2012, the Department has set a deadline of 30 January 2012 for written submissions on the discussion paper.
Here, partner Meryl Snow and senior associate Craig Willey outline the topics under review.
Review of leasing in Queensland
The Department's discussion paper addresses and seeks feedback on a variety of topics to be considered as part of the review of leasing legislation in Queensland, including discussing:
- the possibility of excluding further specific types of premises from the operation of the Retail Shop Leases Act;
- the ability of all lessees (not just major lessess) to waive the mandatory seven day disclosure period;
- the inclusion of a requirement for lessors to provide a disclosure statement when a lease is renewed or extended;
- whether the requirement of lessees to provide financial advice reports and legal advice reports should be discarded, as Queensland is the only jurisdiction in Australia that requires these reports for retail leases;
- the appropriateness of market rent review processes under the Act;
- whether a lessor should have the ability to exclude or limit compensation for events which have been disclosed to the lessee in the lease as being an event likely to occur during the term of the lease;
- the inclusion of mandatory rent abatement provisions in the Act to operate where premises have been damaged or destroyed;
- the clarity and appropriateness of relocation and demolition provisions; and
- the appropriateness of the restrictions on lessors in recovering legal costs from lessees.
The full discussion paper can be downloaded here.
If you would like to make a submission to the Department as part of the review process, please note that all that submissions must be in writing and should refer to the relevant paragraph numbering in the discussion paper. Where possible, supporting details or data for your submissions should be included.
Your submission can be either emailed to RetailShopLeases@justice.qld.gov.au or sent by post to:
If you would like assistance preparing a written submission or would like to submit your comments to us to consider for any submission we may make to the Department, please contact HopgoodGanim's Commercial and Retail Leasing team.
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The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
