Elise Archer,Minister for Workplace Safety and Consumer Affairs
The Tasmanian Government is committed to a regulatory framework for retail leasing that is fair and provides certainty for both tenants and landlords. That is why today I tabled in Parliament the Retail Leases Bill 2022.
The legislation marks the first major update of retail leasing regulation in Tasmania since 1998, and sets out processes relating to retail leases, the rights of tenants, and complaint and dispute resolution processes.
Retail lease regulation impacts a significant number of Tasmania businesses and the legislation is the result of a comprehensive review, including two separate rounds of public consultation.
Key features of the Bill include:
- requirements for detailed disclosure documents to be exchanged between the parties prior to entering into a lease;
- provisions to determine the way rent is to be adjusted or calculated;
- specific provisions for retail premises within shopping centres, including a prohibition of termination of lease due to insufficient sales; and
- low-cost and accessible dispute resolution via mediation.
Modernising Tasmania’s retail leasing laws will ensure they provide an appropriate retail lease regulatory framework for the benefit of all parties to retail lease arrangements, and I look forward to the Bill’s passage through the Parliament.
