Last Friday, 9 August 2013, the High Court heard an appeal against the Victorian Court of Appeal’s decision in Willmott Forests Ltd (Receivers and Managers appointed)(in liquidation) v Willmott Growers Group Inc and Willmott Action Group Inc [2012] VSCA 202. For those following the development of the case, the transcript of the hearing can be […]

Originally posted on Equity, Trusts and More:
It’s been almost five years since the High Court confirmed that Australian law does not recognise a standalone legal doctrine of waiver, Agricultural and Rural Finance Pty Ltd v Gardiner (2008) 238 CLR 570.  Waiver is really a shorthand description of the result of the doctrines of election, estoppel,…

I am often asked how to find the ‘current’ versions of the Retail Tenancies Act 1986 (Vic) and the Retail Tenancies (Reform) Act 1998 (Vic).  To understand why this question is hard to answer, it helps to understand some of the background to the legislation. The 1986 Act was repealed by the 1998 Act.  However, the 1986 Act continues to govern […]

The High Court yesterday granted special leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision in Willmott Forests Ltd (Receivers and Managers appointed)(in liquidation) v Willmott Growers Group Inc and Willmott Action Group Inc [2012] VSCA 202. In a decision that has prompted a flurry of online discussions, the Court of Appeal held that a liquidator appointed […]

A refusal by a landlord to provide a deed of renewal to a tenant or to provide consent to an assignment can be a source of significant anxiety for a tenant who is trying to sell its business, particularly if they are concerned that the buyer may go elsewhere if there are significant delays before […]

Further to my previous post, the new Regulations have not made their way onto the Victorian Law Today page yet. A copy is attached here: Retail Leases Regulations 2013 (Vic).

The Retail Leases Regulations 2013 (Vic) have been passed and come into operation today. A copy of the Regulations is available here (click: Victorian Law Today; check  the box marked – ‘Statutory Rules’; click on ‘R’; follow the link to  Retail Leases Regulations 2013). I will provide some comments on the Regulations shortly.

Regular readers will be aware that the Retail Leases Regulations 2003 (Vic) will sunset shortly and that the Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business recently released a Regulatory Impact Statement and called for submissions about proposed new Regulations. The Acting Minister Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business published in the Victoria Government Gazette on […]

The Victorian Supreme Court has recently confirmed that landlords cannot be restrained from calling on a tenant’s bank guarantee unless the tenant can show an arguable case that the landlord is acting: fraudulently; unconscionably in breach of consumer protection statutes;  or in breach of a contractual promise not to call on the security. In a […]

In the recent VCAT decision of South Yarra Colonnade Pty Ltd v Designbuilt Industries Pty Ltd & Ors (Retail Tenancies) [2013] VCAT 266, a tenant of a retail shop sent a letter to its landlord advising the landlord that it intended to exercise its option. When the lease was subsequently terminated, the landlord argued that the […]