New Ministerial Determination which exempts farm leases from Retail Leases Act

The Minister for Small Business has published a Ministerial Determination which exempts farm leases from the Retail Leases Act.

Farm leases excluded from the operation of the Act include leases of premises under which the premises may be used wholly or predominantly for any of the following activities for commercial gain:

(a) Agricultural, pastoral, horticultural or apicultural activities;

(b) Poultry farming, dairy farming, aquaculture, tree farming or any business that consists of the cultivation of soils, the gathering or crops or rearing of livestock;

(c) Grazing, including agistment;

(d) Any other activities prescribed as a farming operation for the purpose of the Farm Debt Mediation Act 2011.

This new Determination provides clarity with respect to farm leases for the activities listed above, and came into effect on 21 October 2019.

Author: Cathy Drake

Published: 6 December 2019

 

The information in this article is general in nature and is not to be relied upon as legal advice. As always, we recommend you seek thorough legal advice to consider your own circumstances and determine whether the information contained in this article is applicable to you.  This article is current as at the date of publishing but will not be updated as circumstances change.