Understanding Outgoings & RSLA Disclosure for QLD Retail Leases
When a retail lease is signed, the landlord must disclose the first-year outgoings—what categories are recoverable, how they’re calculated and apportioned, and when they’re payable. That opening disclosure is not a promise that the dollar amount stays the same for the entire term. Costs move—council rates, water/sewerage, body corporate administration levies, shared services, etc.—and the RSLA is designed to handle that movement on a period-by-period basis.
From the second year onward, the regime resets each financial year via two documents:
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an annual outgoings estimate (provided at least a month before the period starts), and
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an audited annual statement (provided after the period ends).
If either document arrives late, the tenant can withhold outgoings until it’s provided. That is a timing right, not a permanent waiver.
Key principle: The Act fixes the types and method of recovery, but not a term-wide dollar cap.