New South Wales Consolidated Acts

RETAIL LEASES ACT 1994 - SECT 3

3 Definitions

In this Act:
"assignor’s disclosure statement" means a statement referred to in section 41.
"authorised deposit-taking institution" means an authorised deposit-taking institution within the meaning of the Banking Act 1959 of the Commonwealth.
"business day" means any day except Saturday or Sunday or a day that is a public or bank holiday throughout the State.
"Director-General" means the Director-General of the Department of State and Regional Development.
"exercise" of a function includes the performance of a duty.
"function" includes a power, authority or duty.
"GST" has the same meaning as in the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 of the Commonwealth and includes notional GST of the kind for which payments may be made under section 5 of the Intergovernmental Agreement Implementation (GST) Act 2000 by a person who is a State entity within the meaning of that Act.
"key-money" means any money paid to or at the direction of a lessor or lessor’s agent, by way of a premium, non-repayable bond or otherwise, or any benefit that is conferred on or at the direction of a lessor or lessor’s agent, in connection with the granting, renewal, extension or assignment of a lease (and a reference in this Act to the payment of key-money includes a reference to the conferral of any such benefit).
"lawyer" means a barrister or solicitor.
"lease preparation expenses" means legal or other expenses incurred by the lessor in connection with the preparation or entering into of a retail shop lease, except for registration fees under the Real Property Act 1900 .
"lessee" means the person who has the right to occupy a retail shop under a retail shop lease, and includes a sublessee and a lessee’s or sublessee’s heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.
"lessee’s disclosure statement" means a statement referred to in section 11A.
"lessor" means the person who grants or proposes to grant the right to occupy a retail shop under a retail shop lease, and includes a sublessor and a lessor’s or sublessor’s heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.
"lessor’s disclosure statement" means a statement referred to in section 11.
"lettable area" of a retail shop does not include:

(a) car parking spaces, or

(b) storage areas not attached to the retail shop premises where the business of the shop is or is to be carried on.

(a) the expenses directly and reasonably attributable to the operation, maintenance or repair of the building in which the retail shop is located or (in the case of a retail shop in a retail shopping centre) of any building in the retail shopping centre or any areas used in association with any such building,

(b) rates, taxes, levies, premiums or charges payable by the lessor because the lessor is the owner or occupier of any such building or the land on which it is erected or is the supplier of a taxable supply (within the meaning of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 of the Commonwealth) in respect of any such building or land.

(a) are used, or proposed to be used, wholly or predominantly for the carrying on of one or more of the businesses prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph (whether or not in a retail shopping centre), or

(b) are used, or proposed to be used, for the carrying on of any business (whether or not a business prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (a)) in a retail shopping centre.

Note: Section 5 limits the retail shops to which this Act applies.

Note: Clause 17 of Schedule 3 provides that the businesses specified in Schedule 1 are taken to be prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (a) of this definition until regulations prescribing businesses and repealing Schedule 1 are made.

(a) whether or not the right is a right of exclusive occupation, and

(b) whether the agreement is express or implied, and

(c) whether the agreement is oral or in writing, or partly oral and partly in writing.

Note: Sections 6, 6A and 84B limit the retail shop leases to which this Act applies.

(a) at least 5 of the premises are used wholly or predominantly for the carrying on of one or more listed businesses,

(b) the premises are all owned by the same person, or have (or would if leased have) the same lessor or the same head lessor, or comprise lots within a single strata plan under the Strata Schemes (Freehold Development) Act 1973 or the Strata Schemes (Leasehold Development) Act 1986 ,

(c) the premises are located in the one building or in 2 or more buildings that are either adjoining or separated only by common areas or other areas owned by the owner of the retail shops,

(d) the cluster of premises is promoted as, or generally regarded as constituting, a shopping centre, shopping mall, shopping court or shopping arcade.

(a) for the purposes of a valuation under this Act relating to a retail specialty shop in a retail shopping centre having both:

(i) 20 or more retail specialty shops, and

(ii) a total of lettable areas of retail specialty shops that exceeds 1,000 square metres,

a valuer having not less than 5 years’ experience in valuing retail specialty shops in shopping centres of that kind, or

(b) for the purposes of a valuation under this Act relating to any other retail specialty shop or any other retail shop, a valuer having not less than 5 years’ experience in valuing retail shops.

Note: Part 9 contains other provisions that affect the interpretation of this Act.