Fact Sheet on the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) (Commercial
Leases and Licences) Regulations 2020 Victoria
A brief summary of the Omnibus (Emergency Measures) (Commercial Leases &
Licenses) Regulations 2020 introduced by the Victorian State Government and which
became effective from 29 March 2020.
• The Regulations
• For the latest updates, tools and resources, visit reiv.com.au/covid-19. You
may also like to join the REIV Facebook Group to assist Members during the
Pandemic
Objectives of the regulations:
The objectives of these Regulations are to implement measures to apply to tenants
and landlords under certain eligible leases to mitigate the effect of measures taken in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to implement mechanisms to resolve
disputes concerning eligible leases.
Relevant period:
The relevant period is 29 March 2020 to 29 September 2020.
Eligible leases:
An Eligible Lease is defined in Part 2, Section 13 of the COVID-19 Omnibus
(Emergency Measures) Act 2020 as a retail lease or a non-retail commercial lease or
licence-
(a) that is in effect on 29 March 2020;
(b) under which the tenant is, on or after 29 March 2020 –
(i) an SME entity; and
(ii) an employer who qualifies for the jobkeeper scheme and is a
participant in the jobkeeper scheme.
To be eligible for the jobkeeper scheme, a tenant must have experienced at least a
30% fall in turnover in any months after 1 March 2020 when compared to the
corresponding month from the prior year.
Excluded classes of lease:
An eligible leases does not include any leases for pemises used wholly or
predominantly for the following activities –
(a) agricultural, pastoral, horticultural or apicultural activities;
(b) poultry farming, dairy farming aquaculture, tree-farming or any business
that consists of the cultivation of soils, the gathering of crops or rearing of
livestock;
(c) grazing, including agistment;
(d) any activity prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (c) of the definition
of farming operation in section 3 of the Farm Debt Mediation Act 2011.
Disclaimer: The information in this document is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular
individual or entity. Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information, we do not guarantee that the information in
this document is accurate at the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future.