Do cafés and restaurants need to comply with Retail Leases Act 2003 (VIC)?

Comply with Retail Leases Act 2003 (VIC). The Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) and Retail Leases Regulations 2023 govern leases of retail premises, which the Act defines as premises used wholly or predominantly for the sale or hire of retail goods or the provision of retail services, and which courts have held can include supplying goods or services to other businesses as end users. A landlord entering negotiations must give the prospective tenant the proposed lease and the Victorian Small Business Commission (VSBC) Retail Leases Information Brochure for Tenants (the updated edition is mandatory from 1 July 2026), then a disclosure statement at least 14 days before the lease is entered into.

Trigger: Negotiating, entering into, renewing or assigning a lease of retail premises in Victoria that is not excluded from the Act.

Rules Mate runs its applicability engine across 9 business structures and 6 size bands for each of the 35 industries it maps. For 32 of those industries the answer for "Comply with Retail Leases Act 2003 (VIC)" is no. Cafés & restaurants is one of the 3 where the answer is different: only if.

The deciding fact for cafés and restaurants: Industry: Cafés & restaurants; applies only if you lease retail premises.

About the industry: Food service businesses covered by the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 and food safety standards.

Compare a professional services (general) business with 6–19 employees structured as a Pty Ltd company: the obligation does not apply (Requires a trigger outside this questionnaire).

Each cell is the engine's outcome for a business in cafés & restaurants with that structure and size, assuming it sells to consumers and small businesses and holds customer contact details. "Check" means the obligation turns on a fact the industry does not settle.

When due

Information brochure and proposed lease at the start of negotiations; disclosure statement no later than 14 days before the lease is entered into (otherwise the lease starts 14 days after it is given); on an option renewal, a Schedule 3 disclosure statement at least 21 days before the term ends, or within 14 days of agreeing a renewal; outgoings estimate before the lease and at least one month before each accounting period; audited outgoings statement within three months after each accounting period.

Evidence to keep

Copy of the VSBC brochure and proposed lease given at negotiation; the disclosure statement in the prescribed Retail Leases Regulations 2023 form, with proof of delivery date; annual outgoings estimates; audited outgoings statements (or proof-of-payment statements where only GST, utilities, rates and insurance are recovered); audited advertising and promotion statements for shopping centres; any five-year waiver certificate.

Maximum penalty

A landlord who fails to give the information brochure may be fined if the VSBC investigates and prosecutes. Without a disclosure statement the tenant is not liable to pay rent once it gives written notice (within 7 days before or 90 days after entering the lease), and a misleading, false or incomplete statement can lead to termination of the lease. Outgoings not estimated or not detailed in the lease are not payable

Regulator

See source

Jurisdiction

VIC only

• Comply with Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW): Only if
• Franchising Code of Conduct (mandatory industry code): Only if
• Hold valid liquor licence (state liquor licensing): Only if
• Appoint a certified Food Safety Supervisor (FSS): Yes
• Comply with Plain English Allergen Labelling (PEAL): Only if
• Food Act state licensing + food safety supervisor: Yes
• All 12 answers for cafés & restaurants