Here is something that surprises almost every Victorian retail tenant: parts of the lease you signed may simply not be law. The Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) overrides inconsistent lease terms — which means some of the most landlord-friendly clauses in circulation are void even though they sit right there in your signed document.

1. Upward-only rent reviews are void

A review clause that takes rent to “the higher of the passing rent and market rent” — the classic ratchet — is void under section 35. If your rent has only ever gone up because the lease says it cannot go down, the clause itself may be unenforceable at the next review.

2. Land tax cannot be passed to you

Section 50 prohibits recovering land tax from a retail tenant. If your outgoings schedule includes the landlord’s land tax assessment, you may be paying a charge the Act says you should not pay at all.

3. The five-year minimum term

Under section 21, a retail lease term (including options) must generally be at least five years unless validly waived. A three-year lease with no option is not just short — it may engage a statutory minimum you were never told about.

Why this matters beyond Victoria

Every Australian state and territory has its own retail leasing regime — NSW’s disclosure rules and bond scheme, Queensland’s compensation rights, WA’s statutory option to extend. The clause that is standard in one state is void in the next. This is exactly why “Australian law” is not a thing a lease review can apply — the law lives at state level.

What to do

Pull out your lease and check three clauses: the rent review mechanism, the outgoings schedule, and the term. If any of them collide with the protections above, raise it — in writing — before your next review date. And before you sign the next lease, have the whole document checked against the law of its actual state.

Check your document before you sign it. Legal Case Analyst reads contracts, leases, judgments and legislation under the law of your specific jurisdiction and returns severity-ranked issues with verifiable citations — as a Word/PDF report within 24 hours. Founding reports are £12 (normally £24) for the first 100 customers.

This article is general information, not legal advice. No solicitor/attorney–client relationship is created by reading it. For advice on your situation, consult a licensed practitioner in your jurisdiction.