Queensland Property Law Reforms – the New Property Law Act
Abstract
The Property Law Act 2023 (Qld) received royal assent on 2 November 2023 and commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation. It represents the first major reform of the law of property in Queensland in nearly 50 years. As well as introducing an entirely new seller disclosure regime for the sale of land, it makes a number of substantial modifications to the Property Law Act 1974 (Qld) and to the general law. In this presentation, we aim to provide a general overview of the new Act, and highlight a number of its important similarities and differences relative to the existing law.
About the speakers
All three speakers are current staff at the TC Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland and fellows of the ACPL.
Professor Rick Bigwood is the Academic Dean and Head of School. He is a former Senior Solicitor and Acting Principal Solicitor with the Federal Attorney-General’s Department in Canberra and is an award-winning teacher and researcher who has taught and published widely on subjects within contract, equity and property law.
Dr Greg Dale is a lecturer of law at the TC Beirne School of Law. His research currently focuses on the forfeiture of crime-related property and he lectures the law of real and personal property on the School’s undergraduate programme. He is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Queensland, in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and in the High Court of Australia.
Dr Andrew Fell is a lecturer of law. His research interests lie in private law and private law theory. His work has been published in leading journals such as the Melbourne University Law Review and the University of Toronto Law Journal. He currently teaches the law of trusts and equity .
About Australian Centre for Private Law Events
The mission of the Australian Centre for Private Law is to foster the development and understanding of the private law through advanced theoretical, doctrinal, empirical and historical research, and the dissemination of that research through education and professional outreach. By supporting the work of its Fellows, the ACPL seeks to promote research in all areas of private law and to establish itself as a research centre of national and international importance. The core initiatives of ACPL are:
Research: To advance a deeper understanding of the structure, principles and policies of the private law through advanced theoretical, comparative, and empirical analysis.
Education: To promote, facilitate and disseminate the results of that research for the benefit of Australia’s social and economic fabric.
Professional Outreach: To engage the judiciary and members of the legal profession in discussion about the values, goals and methods of private law and the respective roles of the judiciary, the legal profession and the academy in the interpretation and reform of private law.
The ACPL embraces all branches of private law, including the law of contract, torts, trusts, equity, property, unjust enrichment, including theoretical and jurisprudential dimensions and contextual applications thereof.