Retail Leases Act 2003

A landlord under a retail premises lease or a proposed retail premises lease must not, in connection with the lease or proposed lease, engage in conduct that is, in all the circumstances, unconscionable.

Without limiting the matters to which the Tribunal may have regard for the purpose of determining whether a landlord has contravened subsection (1), the Tribunal may have regard to—

the relative strengths of the bargaining positions of the landlord and tenant; and

whether, as a result of conduct engaged in by the landlord, the tenant was required to comply with conditions that were not reasonably necessary for the protection of the landlord's legitimate interests; and

whether the tenant was able to understand any documents relating to the lease; and

whether any undue influence or pressure was exerted on, or any unfair tactics were used against, the tenant or a person acting on the tenant's behalf by the landlord or a person acting on the landlord's behalf in relation to the lease, for example—

concerning trading on Sundays or days that are public holidays where the premises are located; or

to agree to a lease term of less than the minimum period provided by section 21; and

the amount for which, and the circumstances under which, the tenant could have acquired an identical or equivalent lease from a person other than the landlord; and

the extent to which the landlord's conduct towards the tenant was consistent with the landlord's conduct in similar transactions between the landlord and other similar tenants; and

the requirements of any applicable industry code; and

the requirements of any other industry code, if the tenant acted on the reasonable belief that the landlord would comply with that code; and

the extent to which the landlord unreasonably failed to disclose to the tenant—

any intended conduct of the landlord that might affect the tenant's interests; and

any risks to the tenant arising from the landlord's intended conduct that are risks that the landlord should have foreseen would not be apparent to the tenant; and

the extent to which the landlord was willing to negotiate the terms and conditions of any lease with the tenant; and

the extent to which the landlord acted in good faith; and

the extent to which the landlord was not reasonably willing to negotiate the rent under the lease; and

the extent to which the landlord unreasonably used information about the turnover of the tenant's or a previous tenant's business to negotiate the rent; and

the extent to which the landlord required the tenant to incur unreasonable fit out costs.

In considering whether a landlord has contravened subsection (1), the Tribunal—

must not have regard to any circumstances that were not reasonably foreseeable at the time of the alleged contravention; and

may have regard to circumstances existing before the commencement of this section but not to conduct engaged in before that commencement.