The Federal Government’s renewed focus on harmonising retail tenancy frameworks across Australia could deliver meaningful benefits for retailers, landlords and small businesses, the Shopping Centre Council of Australia (SCCA) said.
The Government previously announced it would pursue harmonising state and territory retail tenancy frameworks as part of its Productivity Package, aiming to make it easier for businesses operating across jurisdictions and reduce regulatory costs and duplication.
The SCCA has welcomed the move, saying it could reduce unnecessary costs, complexity and delays, thus enhancing productivity.
The council believes the most achievable opportunities are likely to be practical and procedural, rather than changes to issues related to commercial terms or mediation and dispute resolution.
Potential areas for greater consistency include harmonised disclosure statements and streamlined processes for multi-tenancy transactions.
Angus Nardi, CEO of the SCCA, said successful reform would depend on close engagement with those directly affected by retail leasing legislation.
“We are the only group that consistently engages on retail lease legislation across all jurisdictions, and we also oversee the only current ‘harmonised’ retail tenancy instrument, being the SCCA Casual Mall Licensing Code of Conduct, which is authorised by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and applies to short-term ‘pop-up’ retail premises,” said Nardi.
“The Code, which has been in place since 2007, demonstrates that national consistency in this area is achievable, and we believe it offers a useful platform for the work ahead.
“We also know deeply what doesn’t work, including the retail rent relief code during Covid-19 where ourselves and the retail industry developed an agreed national code, but it ended up being an amended federal code, and then a quagmire of state regulations.
“The industry’s 14-page code, comprising 11 sections and 2624 words, ended up being regulated differently across Australia’s jurisdictions, blowing out into 217 sections, 50,840 words,” Nardi elaborated.
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