Retail lease disclosure statements in each Australian state and territory: how far ahead, and what happens if you are late

In every Australian jurisdiction a landlord must give a prospective retail tenant a disclosure statement before the lease is entered into: at least 14 days in Victoria and the ACT, at least seven days in NSW, Queensland, WA, Tasmania and the NT, and before signing in South Australia. MatterFirst can calculate those dates and cite the governing provision.

That is the whole rule in one paragraph, and it is also where most retail leasing files go wrong. The clock starts at a different point in each jurisdiction, the consequence of missing it is a termination right that survives months after the tenant has fitted out, and the only evidence that the statement was given on time is whatever the file happens to hold.

What a disclosure statement is, and what it is not

A landlord's disclosure statement is a prescribed form setting out the commercial substance of the tenancy: the premises, the term and any options, the rent and how it is reviewed, the outgoings the tenant contributes to and an estimate of them, fit-out obligations, trading hours, and in a shopping centre, the tenancy mix.

It is not an offer and it is not the lease. The ACT says so expressly: under section 33 of the Leases (Commercial and Retail) Act 2001, neither giving a disclosure statement nor acknowledging receipt of one is a lease or an offer to lease.

What it does is start a clock. The statement has to be in the tenant's hands a set number of days before the lease is entered into, so the tenant has time to read it and take advice. Serve it late, or serve one that is incomplete or wrong, and in most jurisdictions the tenant acquires a right to walk away.

The lead time in each state and territory

Two of those entries are not simply a different number of days.

Tasmania does not count back from signing. Clause 6 counts back from the earliest of four events: signing a lease, signing an agreement to lease, entering into occupation, or paying rent. A tenant let in early on a handshake, or who pays a first month of rent before documents are exchanged, can have passed the trigger before anyone sends the statement.

Victoria does not merely penalise lateness, it moves the lease. The Victorian Small Business Commission states that where the documents are given late, the lease starts 14 days after they are given. The commencement date in the signed lease is then not the one that governs, which flows through to rent, reviews, option dates and the end of term.

What happens when the statement is late, incomplete or wrong

Read that as a risk profile rather than a list. The right to terminate runs for six months after the lease is entered into in NSW, Queensland, WA and the NT, and three months in Tasmania and the ACT. In NSW it carries a compensation entitlement that can include fit-out. A landlord who serves the statement two days late on a 10 year lease has created an option for the tenant that does not appear anywhere on its own rent roll.

Queensland is worth isolating. Under section 21F(4) the honest and reasonable defence applies only where the statement was defective, not where none was given, and section 21F(5) makes the lessor liable for reasonable compensation whether or not the lease is terminated.

Renewals and waivers, where files most often slip

Renewals under an option are generally excluded. Queensland excludes them in section 21B(3), WA excludes both option renewals and assignments in section 6(6), and in South Australia no statement is required for a renewal. The ACT reverses it: under section 30(3) a tenant may require a statement for an option, no earlier than three months before the option may be exercised, and the lessor then has 14 days to provide it.

Waivers are permitted in three jurisdictions, each on its own terms. Queensland requires a signed waiver notice and, unless the tenant is a major lessee, a legal advice report under section 22D confirming a lawyer explained the waiver's effect. The NT requires a certificate from a legal practitioner not acting for the landlord. The ACT requires a lawyer's certificate stating the tenant is aware of the time limits and has chosen to waive or vary them. In each case the waiver is a document the file has to hold, signed by the right person, before the lease is entered into.

Thresholds decide whether any of this applies

None of these obligations bite unless the tenancy is within the statute. In WA, the definition of retail shop lease in section 3 excludes a shop with a lettable area exceeding 1,000 square metres unless it is of a prescribed kind. In South Australia the Act stops applying above a prescribed rent threshold, which rose from $400,000 to $420,000 a year excluding GST on 1 July 2025, as Michael Stannard of Mellor Olsson has set out. Each jurisdiction has its own combination of floor area, use, tenant type and rent tests, so the threshold question belongs at intake: it decides which checklist the matter runs on.

How MatterFirst handles this

MatterFirst is a legal practice management platform for Australian law firms, built by North Cape Technology in Melbourne.

Firms define their own matter types, so a retail lease matter can carry the fields the obligation turns on: jurisdiction, lettable area, annual rent, whether the premises sit in a retail shopping centre, and whether the lease is a new grant, a renewal under option or an assignment. Matters can be recorded in all eight Australian jurisdictions, and contacts take roles, so landlord, tenant, guarantor and agent are distinguishable on the file.

The obligations engine holds rules that calculate key dates and cite the governing statute, which is what a disclosure deadline needs. A rule can produce the date the statement is due, count back seven or 14 days from the correct trigger, and record the provision it came from, so the file carries the reasoning and not only the date. Key dates sync to the calendar.

Document generation builds the statement from sections that are deterministic by default: merge fields, matter data projections and clause library entries, with AI used only where a section genuinely calls for synthesis. Output is branded PDF and Word. Automations can generate a document as a workflow step, and generated documents file on the matter and can be emailed, shared to the client portal or routed for e-signature, which is what later proves service and its date.

Acting for the tenant instead, Document AI extracts key terms from an uploaded lease or statement and flags risks, with custom extraction rules a firm defines.

How the main Australian platforms compare

Clio is the other platform commonly shortlisted here. Its Australian pricing page did not load when this was written, so no figures for it are stated.

Two points of substance sit behind that table. LEAP's own page gives pre-configured matter types as a reason firms choose it, so that firms do not build their own matter structures from scratch. MatterFirst expects the firm to define the matter type. For a leasing practice that wants a jurisdiction field driving a disclosure deadline, defining it yourself is an advantage; for a firm that wants its forms maintained by the vendor, it is not.

The second is pricing shape rather than price. MatterFirst is priced per workspace with users included: Solo at $199 a month including one user, Practice at $649 including four, Firm at $1,299 including eight, and extra users from $139 a month. Every paid plan includes the client portal, automations and a monthly AI balance in Australian dollars that metered AI work draws down, and how that balance is metered is published.

Who this suits, and who it does not

MatterFirst suits Australian firms of roughly two to twenty fee earners that need onshore hosting, state-based trust accounting and matter types they can shape themselves. Its trust accounting compliance review workflow covers NSW, VIC, QLD and WA, so a firm trust accounting in SA, TAS, ACT or NT should confirm that the workflow matches its obligations before committing.

Four integrations are connectable today: Xero, Stripe, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, plus a documented REST API with webhooks. Everything else in the catalogue, including PEXA, InfoTrack, MYOB, SharePoint, DocuSign and iManage, is listed as coming soon. A practice that needs an e-signature platform or a document management system connected today should check the integrations page first.

A firm that wants its precedents, forms and statutory content maintained by the vendor is better served by a platform built around that promise.

Frequently asked questions

How many days before signing does a landlord have to give a disclosure statement in NSW?

At least seven days before the lease is entered into, under section 11 of the Retail Leases Act 1994. If it is not given, or is incomplete or misleading, the lessee may terminate in the first six months and recover costs reasonably incurred in entering the lease, including fit-out.

Does MatterFirst handle Victorian retail lease deadlines?

Matters can be recorded in all eight Australian jurisdictions, and the obligations engine calculates key dates and cites the governing statute, so a firm can encode the 14 day lead time under section 17 and the consequence of serving late. The rules are the firm's to define.

Can a tenant get out of a retail lease because the disclosure statement was late?

Often, yes, and later than landlords expect: six months after entering the lease in NSW, Queensland, WA and the NT, and three months in Tasmania and the ACT. In Queensland the lessor is also liable for reasonable compensation whether or not the lease ends.

Is a disclosure statement required when a tenant exercises an option?

Generally no. Queensland and WA expressly exclude renewals under an option, and WA also excludes assignments. The ACT reverses it: the tenant can require a statement for an option, no earlier than three months before it may be exercised.

Does MatterFirst connect to PEXA or InfoTrack?

No. Both are listed as coming soon. The connectable integrations today are Xero, Stripe, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, with a documented REST API and webhooks for anything else.

What does MatterFirst cost for a four person firm?

The Practice plan is $649 AUD a month per workspace, or $6,490 a year, including four users and a monthly AI balance of A$280. Extra users are from $139 per user per month.

The short version

The obligation is simple and the exposure is not. Seven days in NSW, Queensland, WA, Tasmania and the NT. Fourteen in Victoria and the ACT. Before signing in South Australia. Tasmania counts from the earliest of four events rather than from signing, and Victoria moves the commencement date if you are late. Decide the threshold question at intake, calculate the due date from the right trigger, serve from a system that records what was sent and when, and keep any waiver or lawyer's certificate on the file. The termination right can sit open for six months after the tenant has fitted out, and the only thing that closes it is evidence.

If you are assessing systems for this work, the evaluation checklist sets out the questions worth putting to any vendor.