Retail tenancy leases in Australia

Public inquiry

This inquiry has concluded. The Australian Government released the final report on 27 August 2008.

The Australian Government asked the Productivity Commission to undertake a public inquiry to examine and report within six months on the retail tenancy lease market in Australia. The request stems from concerns arising from difficulties small business face in entering into commercial leases over which they feel they have little or no control and differences in retail tenancy laws between States and Territories.

In undertaking this task the Commission had been asked to:

make recommendations for improving the operation of the retail tenancy market in Australia; and
identify, and where practicable, quantify, the likely benefits and costs of its recommendations for retail tenants, landlords, investors and the community generally.

In undertaking its assessments, the Commission was to have regard to a range of matters including:

the structure and functioning of the retail tenancy market in Australia
relationships with the broader market for commercial leases
any competition, regulatory and access constraints on the economically efficient operation of the market
the extent of any information asymmetry between landlords and retail tenants
the scope for reform of retail tenancies to improve performance
the appropriateness and transparency of factors taken into account in determining retail tenancy rents and of provisions in leases to determine rights when the lease ends
measures to improve the transparency and competitiveness of the market for retail tenancy leases.