As outlined in our Real Estate Alert in May, the Retail Shop Leases Amendment Act 2016 (Qld) (Amendment Act) was passed by the Queensland Parliament earlier this year, to commence on a date to be set by the Parliament.

A commencement date has now been set, and the Amendment Act will commence on 25 November 2016.

The Amendment Act gives effect to outcomes from the statutory review of the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 (Act). Key objectives of the review were to improve the Act's efficiency and effectiveness, reduce red tape and compliance costs, address imbalances and align the Act with the retail tenancy laws in other Australian jurisdictions.

A summary of the highlights of the Amendment Act can be found in our Real Estate Alert: Retail Shop Leases Amendment Bill 2015: The Highlights.

It may be timely for interested stakeholders to review their processes and template documents in light of these recent changes.