Commercial Leasing

This bill replaces Queensland's nearly 50-year-old Property Law Act 1974 with a modernised framework for property transactions. It introduces a statutory seller disclosure scheme requiring sellers to provide standardised information to buyers before contract signing, facilitates electronic conveyancing and electronic deeds, and simplifies rules governing mortgages, leases, co-ownership, and trusts.

This bill established temporary emergency powers to help Queensland respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. It protected renters and small businesses from eviction, allowed Parliament and courts to operate remotely, and gave government broad powers to modify legal requirements around documents, time limits, and proceedings. The entire Act expired on 31 December 2020.

This bill gives Queensland Health significantly stronger powers to shut down shops selling illegal tobacco and vapes, and hold their landlords accountable. It responds to the rapid growth of the illicit tobacco and vaping market, which is increasingly linked to organised crime and poses serious public health risks, particularly for young people.

This bill extended most of Queensland's temporary COVID-19 emergency laws until 30 April 2022, continuing the legal basis for public health directions, quarantine requirements, and support measures across multiple sectors. It also reformed the quarantine fee system to allow prepayment and third-party liability, and clarified that quarantine directions could be issued electronically.

This bill makes permanent several temporary COVID-19 measures in Queensland's justice system. It modernises how legal documents are signed and witnessed by allowing electronic signatures and video link witnessing, improves access to domestic violence protection orders, lets licensed restaurants permanently sell takeaway wine with meals, and extends COVID-19 retail lease protections.

This bill rolls several 2017-18 State Budget tax measures into one package. It extends the boosted $20,000 First Home Owners' Grant for another six months, introduces a new 1.5 per cent land tax surcharge on overseas-based landowners, tightens foreign buyer duty rules, and restores tenant protections against landlords passing on land tax on older commercial leases.

This bill rewrites the rules for retail shop leases in Queensland, following a long statutory review of the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994. It tightens what landlords must disclose to tenants, makes centre outgoings and marketing spending more transparent, frees outgoing tenants and their guarantors from ongoing liability when they assign a lease, and removes coverage of the Act from large shops over 1000m2 and predominantly non-retail tenancies.

This bill permanently establishes a Queensland Small Business Commissioner to provide advice, advocacy, and affordable dispute resolution for small businesses. It replaces the temporary commissioner created during COVID-19 with a permanent statutory office and transfers administration of retail tenancy dispute mediation to the new commissioner.

This bill extends Queensland's temporary COVID-19 emergency legislation to 30 September 2021, gives local governments flexibility to adjust rates mid-year, creates a framework for holding COVID-safe local government by-elections and fresh elections, and extends temporary remote meeting arrangements for councils.