Here is a short update from Matt Dolan, Real Estate lawyer, on some recent and potential changes for the Queensland real estate industry.

Electronic signing policies

As we’ve written about previously, during the midst of the pandemic in 2020, the Queensland Government introduced temporary measures to assist with the electronic execution of documents. Those temporary laws expired on 30 April 2022 and have been replaced by new permanent laws.

More importantly, particularly for signing deeds, the Property Law Act (Qld) has been amended to dispense with the requirement for a deed to be prepared and signed in physical form and for a deed to be ‘sealed’. The new laws provide that a deed can now be prepared and signed electronically by using an ‘accepted method’.

Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act

Changes to the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act in Queensland have been implemented to improve safety, security and certainty for the Queensland rental market and aim to strike the right balance between renters and rental property owner interests.

There are critical changes to both the tenant’s and landlord’s rights to end a tenancy, along with the introduction of minimum housing standards, which will apply to new tenancies from September 2023.

eConveyancing mandate

The Queensland Department of Resources has released a consultation paper regarding compulsory use of the Electronic Lodgement Network (ELN) for certain classes of conveyancing documents, for example, a transfer of real property via PEXA.

If the regulation is passed, the use of an ELN (eg PEXA), for documents currently capable of lodgement via eConveyancing, will become mandatory. If Queensland adopts the proposed regulations, these are anticipated to take effect in early 2023.

Since 2016, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia have all implemented compulsory eConveyancing for certain land title transaction types. It would be a step forward for Queensland to introduce a mandate on eConveyancing transactions.

What happens next?

If you need further information about these changes, please contact a member of our Real Estate team.