Limitation of non-specific outgoings contribution

ACT

See section 70. Recoverable outgoings for premises located in the retail area of a shopping centre must be a reasonable expense directly related to the operation, or a reasonable expense, of repairing or maintaining an area used for or in connection with the retail area of the shopping centre that contains the premises.

NSW

See section 30. A RSC tenant is not liable to contribute toward non-specific outgoings of the landlord, unless the outgoing is referable to that shop, and the tenant is liable for no more than its proportion, being the proportion that the lettable area of the shop bears to the total lettable areas of all shops in the RSC to which the outgoing is referable.

An outgoing on account of GST payable by the landlord in respect of rent payable under a lease is not a non-specific outgoing of the landlord for the purposes of this section.

NT

See section 42. In order for the outgoing to be recoverable, the shop must be one of the shops for which the outgoing is referable, and the amount recoverable is limited to the ratio that the lettable area of the shop to the total lettable area of all retail shops to which the outgoing is referable.

An outgoing is referable to a retail shop if the shop is one of the shops that enjoys or shares the benefit resulting from the outgoing.

QLD

See section 38. Limited to the ratio that the area of the leased shop bears to the total area of all premises leased or occupied or available for lease or occupation (whether or not retail shops) who share or would share the benefits of such outgoings. The total area of all premises will not include areas that, if they were not leased, would be within a common area of the centre or building provided such areas are used for a prescribed purpose, being:

  • information, entertainment, community or leisure facilities;
  • telecommunication equipment;
  • ATM;
  • vending machines;
  • advertisement displays;
  • seating, tables and other furniture;
  • trade out areas;
  • storage; and
  • parking.

SA

See section 34. Similar to NSW.

A tenant is not liable to contribute to an outgoing not specifically referable to any particular shop in a centre unless the shop is one of the shops to which the outgoing is referable.

TAS

See section 18(3). The proportion of outgoings to be paid by a tenant is calculated as:

  • the ratio of the lettable area of the tenant's premises to the lettable area of all lettable premises sharing the benefit of a particular outgoing; or
  • the ratio of the assessed annual value of the tenant's premises to the assessed annual value of all lettable premises sharing the benefit of a particular outgoing.

VIC

See section 39(2) and Regulations 5 and 9. Limited to the ratio that the lettable area of the retail premises bears to the total of the lettable areas of all the retail premises which receive the benefit of the outgoing.

WA

See section 12, similar to NSW but without the GST provision.

As noted above, a tenant under a retail shop lease of premises in a "group of premises":

  • is not required to contribute to any operating expense that is not "referable" to the tenant's shop; or
  • where an operating expense is "referable" to the tenant's shop as well as other premises in the group, cannot be required to pay more than the ratio of lettable area of the shop to total lettable areas of all premises in the group of premises to which the outgoing is "referable".

"Referable" is defined to mean a retail shop enjoys or shares the benefit of the expense.

Definitions and currency

Currency of information by jurisdiction Definitions

ACT information current as at 1 January 2023

NSW information current as at 1 January 2023

NT information current as at 1 January 2023

QLD information current as at 1 January 2023

SA information current as at 1 January 2023

Tas information current as at 1 January 2023

Vic information current as at 11 April 2023

WA information current as at 1 January 2023

"CMR" means current market rent.

"CMV" means current market value.

"DS" means disclosure statement.

"NCAT" means the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

"QCAT" means Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

"RSC" means retail shopping centre.

"RTC" means retail tenancy claim.

"RTD" means retail tenancy dispute.

"SAT" means State Administrative Tribunal.

"SBC" means Small Business Commissioner.

"SRV" means specialist retail valuer.

"VCAT" means Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

"WA SAT" means the State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia.