Land and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
Plain English Summary
Overview
This bill makes a suite of administrative improvements to Queensland's Land Act 1994 and Land Title Act 1994. The biggest practical changes are replacing the current settlement notice with a nationally consistent priority notice to support electronic conveyancing, cutting red tape in titles registry processes, and allowing non-tidal watercourse or lake land to be dedicated as a community reserve with the adjoining owner's consent.
Who it affects
Property buyers, sellers, conveyancers and legal practitioners benefit from faster, more consistent titles processes, while landowners adjoining State-owned watercourses, trustees of trust land, and lessees of State land face new procedural rules.
Key changes
- Introduces a nationally consistent priority notice (extendable for 30 days) to replace settlement notices and support electronic conveyancing
- Allows the Registrar of Titles to dispense with a paper certificate of title where it is held by a legal practitioner
- Lets the Registrar withdraw lodged instruments that cannot be given legal effect, such as a power of attorney naming the same person as principal and attorney
- Requires adjoining owner consent (and the water chief executive's consent) before non-tidal watercourse or lake land can be dedicated as a reserve
- Recognises interstate, UK and New Zealand grants of probate so beneficiaries can be registered on title without resealing
- Limits when a trustee of trust land can resign, so there is a smooth handover to a replacement
- Shifts liability for improper caveat compensation from the lodging legal practitioner to the caveator (the client)
- Replaces mandatory standard terms documents with terms prescribed by regulation, backed by a notice-to-remedy process and up to 400 penalty units for non-compliance
Bill Journey
▸Committee29 Nov 2016View Hansard
Referred to Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources Committee
The Agriculture and Environment Committee examined the Land and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 and recommended it be passed with three additional amendments. The committee addressed concerns raised by the Local Government Association of Queensland about trustee resignation provisions and compensation for local governments. The government accepted all recommendations and proposed amendments during consideration in detail.
Key findings (5)
- The Local Government Association of Queensland raised concerns that proposed amendments would weaken relationships between the State and local governments
- The committee found that the trustee resignation provisions in Clause 24 could tie local government trustees to their functions against their will
- The committee identified that Clause 27 needed amendment to ensure local government trustees receive proper notices and that compensation is explicitly payable by the State
- The committee found no compelling policy rationale for restricting rolling term lease extension applications to the last 20 years of a lease term
- The bill also introduced a priority notice system to replace settlement notices, consistent with national standards already adopted in Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and Tasmania
Recommendations (4)
- The committee recommends the Land and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 be passed.
- The committee recommends that Clause 24 of the Bill be amended, in accordance with the recommendations of the Local Government Association of Queensland, to remove the proposed amendments and instead require a notice period between the receipt of a resignation by the Minister and the resignation taking effect.
- The committee recommends that Clause 27 be amended to provide for the provision of notices to local government trustees under the proposed sections 321E, 321G, 321H and 321J, and to alter the wording of the proposed section 321K to make it clear that compensation is payable by the State, not local government.
- The committee recommends that section 164C(5) of the Land Act 1994 be amended to permit holders of rolling term leases to make one application for extension at any point during the term of the lease.
Committee report tabled
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