Queensland’s new seller disclosure rules: What you need to know before 1 August 2025

From 1 August 2025, Queensland’s Property Law Act 1974 will be replaced by the new Property Law Act 2023 (PLA 2023). A significant change brought about by the PLA 2023 is the introduction of the mandatory seller disclosure regime.

The seller disclosure regime will apply to all contracts for the sale of existing freehold property that are entered into from 1 August 2025, with limited exceptions.

In short, this new regime does away with Queensland’s “buyer beware” premise and imposes on the seller the responsibility to undertake a certain level of due diligence investigations to provide the buyer with information relating to the property before the buyer signs the contract.

From 1 August 2025, sellers will be required to provide prospective buyers with a Form 2 Seller Disclosure Statement and a suite of prescribed certificates before the buyer signs the contract. Mandatory disclosure information includes:

1. a title search and copy of the registered survey plan;
2. details of all encumbrances (whether registered or not);
3. zoning of the property;
4. most recent rates and water assessments;
5. for a community titles scheme (CTS) lot, a prescribed certificate (Form 33 body corporate certificate), and a copy of the community management statement for the CTS;
6. any recording of the property on the environmental management register or the contaminated land register (and copies of relevant notices or orders);
7. details of any notices of resumption affecting the property;
8. details of tree applications or orders affecting the property;
9. copies of any unsatisfied show cause notices or enforcement notices under the Planning Act 2016 (Qld) or Building Act 1975 (Qld);
10. information on transport infrastructure proposals affecting the property; and
11. any permitted building works carried out on the property under an owner builder permit in the last six years.

Exceptions to the Seller Disclosure Regime for certain types of transfer

In some circumstances, the seller will not be required to provide the buyer with a seller disclosure statement. These circumstances include:

1. where the sale price exceeds $10million (incl. GST), and the buyer waives compliance before signing the contract;
2. where the buyer is a federal, state or local government, a statutory body, a listed corporation or a subsidiary of a listed corporation;
3. for a contract arising from the exercise of an option (provided that certain conditions are met), however the contract will not be exempted where under the option another entity is nominated to purchase the property;
4. contracts of sale between related parties and the buyer waives compliance before signing the contract;
5. boundary re-alignments or transfers between co-owners;
6. where the transfer is to give effect to a court order or enforcement warrant;
7. where the property is being compulsorily acquired and sold back to the former owner pursuant to section 41 of the Acquisition of Land Act 1967 (Qld); and
8. where the property is being sold by a local government to recover overdue rates and charges.

Failure by the seller to give the Form 2 Seller Disclosure Statement (or an applicable prescribed certificate) will create a right for the buyer to terminate the contract at any time up until settlement. A termination right for the buyer will also be created if there are inaccuracies or omissions in the disclosure about a material matter affecting the property of which the buyer was unaware and the buyer would not have entered the contract had the buyer been aware of the correct state of affairs.