Royal assent to the following bills was provided yesterday: •  the COVID-19 Commercial and Residential Tenancies Legislation Amendment (Extension) Act 2020 (Vic); and • the Retail Leases Amendment Act 2020 (Vic). As a result, both Acts came into effect as of yesterday, 23 September 2020. I will post a summary of the effects of the […]

For those watching this closely, both the Retail Leases Amendment Bill 2019 (Vic) and the COVID-19 Commercial and Residential Tenancies Legislation Amendment (Extension) Bill 2020 which extends and modifies the CTRS have passed through Parliament and are awaiting Royal assent before they become law. See: https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/legislation/343-legislation-and-bills/articles/1824-bills-this-week I expect that we will see the new Regulations […]

The ever-diligent Abilene Singh has sent me a copy of the second reading speech for the Bill that allows for the extension of the CTRS in Victoria. The real action will be in the Regulations when they are published, but the second reading speech gives a few more clues about what the Regs are likely […]

A Bill is now available on the Parliamentary website that will allow the extension of the CTRS. The purpose of the Bill is stated as: (a) to amend the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) Act 2020—  (i) to extend the operation of Part 2.2 of that Act under which regulations may be made to modify the […]

The Retail Leases Amendment Bill 2019 remains before the Upper House and on the list for debate. To the best of my knowledge, the Bill has not yet been passed. For those who are following this area of law, the Law Institute Journal has published an excellent article by Paul Snow and Nicholas D’Arcy that […]

Justice Robb in the NSW Supreme Court has handed down two recent decisions that discuss the effect of the Code and its implementation in NSW.   The decisions are: Sneakerboy Retail Pty Ltd trading as Sneakerboy v Georges Properties Pty Ltd [2020] NSWSC 996, (31 July 2020);  and Sneakerboy Retail Pty Ltd trading as Sneakerboy v Georges Properties […]

The Premier’s press release today contained some important information about the CTRS for commercial landlords and tenants.   Here is my summary of and comments on the latest development: The prohibition on lease terminations and rent increases will be extended from the current sunset date of 29 September 2020 to 31 December 2020.  It is unclear at […]

https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/pause-evictions-extended-and-extra-renter-protections The above link is to the Premier’s press release on what appears to be a partial extension of the CTRS. The press release contains more information than was in the article that I posted earlier today. I will circulate a summary of the key points shortly.

The Financial Review has just published the following: Ban on rent increases and evictions extended Patrick Durkin The Victorian government is extending the ban on evictions and rental increases until the end of the year. “Under the extensions, evictions will continue to be banned for residential and commercial tenants until December 31, unless in rare […]

Further to my post on Monday about the details of the stage 4 restrictions, contact telephone number and website for Industry Coordination Centre within Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions are 13 22 15 or visit Business Victoria. Further details can be found at  https://djpr.vic.gov.au/about-us/contact-us.