Landlords have been put on notice.
Amendments to the Retail Leases Act have been tabled for the first time in more than 20 years.
Retailers in NSW have rallied in support of The Retail Leases Amendment (Review) Bill 2016, brought forth by the Minister for Small Business John Barilaro.
Australian Retailers Association (ARA) executive director Russell Zimmerman said the NSW Government has gone a long way to creating “more transparency and equality".
Under the new Act, an industry sales reporting code has been developed and a range of issues addressed.
“Minister Barilaro and the NSW government need to be congratulated for steering through changes which should make retail leases more transparent and fairer in New South Wales,” Zimmerman said.
The Retail Leases Amendment (Review) Bill 2016 was presented to NSW Parliament on Tuesday to introduce reforms to the Retail Leases Act 1994.
One key example is the development of a sales reporting code.
The code would allow NSW retailers to request retail category values from landlords.
“This enables them to understand real lease values which the Shopping Centre Council has agreed to through negotiation by the ARA and its industry partners at the Franchise Council of Australia along with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia,” Zimmerman said.
The retail industry in NSW accounts for almost 390,000 jobs and $36 billion in annual sales to the economy.