State legislation enacting the Code expected 23 April 2020

The Victorian Premier announced today that Parliament is sitting on Thursday, 23 April 2020 to debate ‘an ominbus of bills’.

Among those bills is expected to be a bill giving effect to the National Cabinet Mandatory Code of Conduct for landlords and tenants that was discussed in an earlier post.

As usual, I will keep my readers posted of developments as they occur.

On a similar note, the ACT Parliament has passed amendments to its Leases (Commercial and Retail) Act 2001 (ACT).  These amendments are effective as at 8 April 2020 and permit the ACT’s Attorney-General to make certain declarations.  The provision states that:

Part 17 COVID-19 emergency response

177  Declaration—COVID-19 emergency response

(1) The Minister may make a declaration in relation to the following matters for the purpose of responding to the public health emergency   caused by the COVID-19 pandemic:

(a)    prohibiting the termination of a lease to which this Act applies by a lessor in stated circumstances;

(b)    prohibiting the recovery of possession of premises under the lease by the lessor in stated circumstances;

(c)    changing any period under the lease or this Act in which someone must or may do something;

(d)    changing, limiting or preventing the exercise or enforcement of any other right of the lessor under the lease or this Act in stated circumstances;

(e)    exempting a tenant or lessor, or class of tenant or lessor, from the operation of a provision of this Act, a lease to which this Act applies or any other agreement relating to the lease of the premises.

Sam Hopper and Abilene Singh