The decision referred to in my previous post in now attached as follows, for those interested in reading it: McIntyre & Anor v Kucminska Holdings Pty Ltd _Retail Tenancies_ [2012] VCAT 1766

Those following the recent debate on whether a landlord can recover from a tenant the costs of essential safety measures as an outgoing under a lease in light of s 251 of the Building Act, a decision of Senior Member Riegler published today states that: [69] It is clear that the express terms of the […]

After passing through the upper house on 15 November 2012, the Retail Leases Amendment Bill 2012 (Vic) received Royal Assent today.  It will come into operation tomorrow. At the time of this post, the Retail Leases Amendment Act 2012 (Vic) has not yet made its way onto the Victorian parliamentary website.  The consolidated version of […]

The recent decision of Senior Member Steele at VCAT in Computer & Parts Land Pty Ltd v Property Sunrise Pty Ltd (Retail Tenancies) [2012] VCAT 1522 gives some guidance on when a landlord can resist exercise of an option by the tenant of a retail premises lease. Section 27(2) of the Retail Leases Act 2003 […]

My friend and colleague Bill Stark has just posted on his blog a useful summary of the New South Wales Court of Appeal’s decision in BBB Constructions Pty Ltd v Aldi Foods Pty Ltd [2012] NSWCA 224. In that case, the developer unsuccessfully sued Aldi for damages after Aldi withdrew from lease negotiations.  Executed leases had not […]

Mark Brennan, Victoria’s inaugural Small Business Commissioner, has been appointed as the inaugural Federal Small Business Commissioner. Mr Brennan conducted the review of the Retail Tenancies (Reform) Act 1998 (Vic) which led to the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) and the Small Business Commissioner Act 2003 (Vic). Mr Brennan was then appointed as Victoria’s first Small Business Commissioner.  He served […]

The Australian Financial Review today published an article reporting that an application for special leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s recent decision in the Willmott case was filed last week. The Court of Appeal held that a liquidator of a land owning company can use the disclaimer power in the Corporations Act to disclaim […]

The Retail Leases Amendment Bill 2012 (Vic) was introduced into Parliament yesterday. The main purpose of the Bill is to remove the requirement to report to the Small Business Commissioner particulars of a new or renewed lease (currently required under s 25 of the RLA 2003). The requirement to notify the Commissioner of leases and renewals […]

  For those following the debate about the Court of Appeal’s decision about the disclaimer of leases in the Willmott decision, here is another summary and comment on the decision by King & Wood Mallesons.

For those who are interested in the debate following my previous post on the Willmott decision, my friend and colleague Carrie Rome-Sievers has put an excellent summary of the case on her blog here.