Who must comply with Retail Leases Act 2003 (VIC)?

Vic retail leases (under $1M annual rent) attract statutory protections including disclosure + outgoings rules.

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. Tenants are not liable for outgoings that are not detailed in the lease or not covered by an annual estimate. The Act also covers five-year waiver certificates, key money, security deposits, essential safety measures and rent reviews, with VSBC dispute resolution before VCAT.

Applies only if you lease retail premises. Whether it applies turns on a fact that no industry, structure or size settles on its own.

How the regulator frames it: Landlords (and their agents) and tenants of Victorian retail premises. Excluded by ministerial determination are, among others, retail-service premises above the first three storeys of a building, leases of 15 years or more imposing substantial works or financial obligations, Melbourne Market Authority market land, certain community, charitable and farming leases, and tenants listed on an overseas stock exchange (and their subsidiaries).

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

Jurisdiction: Victoria law only. A business with no operations in VIC is outside it, whatever the rest of the test says.

Outcome across the 35 industries Rules Mate maps (3 of 35: only if a further fact applies; 32 of 35: no).

Structure does not change the answer in the 3 industries it can reach: for every structure the answer is "only if a further fact applies".

Size does not change the answer in the 3 industries it can reach: at every size band the answer is "only if a further fact applies".

Each line is one run of the Rules Mate applicability engine for a single business profile, with the reason the engine gives:

• Pty Ltd company in real estate agents with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: does not apply. Requires a trigger outside this questionnaire.
• Pty Ltd company in cafés & restaurants with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: check whether it applies. applies only if you lease retail premises.

The engine shows this obligation as "check whether this applies" when a business has industry: Retail trade or industry: Cafés & restaurants / Hotels, pubs & licensed venues. It then applies only if you lease retail premises. That fact is not something Rules Mate can infer from industry, structure or size.

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.

Frequency

When a triggering event occurs

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.

Status

Current

Priority

High

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.

Rules Mate has not yet classified the audit or assurance level for this obligation. Any audit, review or certification requirement is set by the regulator source listed below.

If this obligation applies to you, so does this one: the engine uses the same rule for each.

• Comply with Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW)

• Comply with Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (VIC): VIC RTA 1997 (significantly amended 2021) — minimum standards, pets, no-fault terminations reformed.

Rules Mate tracks 5 published obligations tagged "tenancy", 0 of them rated critical. For a professional services Pty Ltd company with 6–19 employees operating in every state, 0 of those apply outright. This obligation is rated high priority, and is triggered by events.

Free tools that help with this obligation:

• Compliance calendar builder