Victorian Conveyancing Reforms: Key Changes for Vendors, Purchasers and Estate Agents

The Consumer Legislation Amendment Act 2026 (Vic), formerly the Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2026, received Royal Assent on 8 September 2026 and introduces significant reforms to Victoria's property sale process, including earlier vendor disclosure, greater price transparency and tighter controls on deposits and agent commissions.

The price transparency reforms (under the Estate Agents Act 1980 (Vic)) will take effect on 1 October 2026; the Vendor Statement reforms (under the Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic)) follow on a date to be proclaimed, no later than 1 June 2027 while the deposit reforms follow on a date to be proclaimed, no later than 1 July 2027. Vendors, purchasers, agents and practitioners should begin preparing now for these changes.

Key reforms and commencement dates

Earlier s32 vendor statements

Section 32 Vendor Statements must now be available well before contract signing, not merely before it. For auction and fixed-date sales, the Statement must be available at least 14 days before the sale date; for other publicly advertised properties, within 14 days of first advertising.

‘Available’ means it can be provided in hard copy or electronically on request. Vendors will need to engage conveyancers and solicitors earlier, obtaining searches, certificates and disclosure documents before marketing commences rather than during the campaign. If details in the Statement change, the vendor must give the purchaser written notice before the purchaser signs the contract. The aim is to give purchasers sufficient time to complete due diligence before committing to a purchase.

From 1 October 2026, the Statement of Information is replaced by a Property Price Statement (PPS) under the Estate Agents Act 1980.

The PPS must set out the property's building type, number of bedrooms, bathrooms and car spaces, internal floor area, land size and any other prescribed features, plus the same details for comparable properties relied on to set the indicative selling price, even where only one or two comparables exist.

The PPS and indicative selling price must sit prominently next to the advertised price in online listings.

Once a sale becomes unconditional, the sold price must be added within 7 days and stay publicly available, free of charge, for at least 18 months. Agents should treat property data as a compliance record, not a marketing afterthought, and keep evidence of the comparables used.

From 1 October 2026 under the Estate Agents Act 1980, agents must publish the vendor's reserve price at least seven days before an auction or fixed-date sale, expressed as a single dollar figure (no ‘from’, ‘over’ or similar qualifiers).

The PPS and all marketing materials must be updated once the reserve is set and the auction cannot proceed if the reserve is not published in time.

For an auction on 16 October 2026, for example, the reserve must be published by 9 October 2026.

Section 27 of the Sale of Land Act 1962, which allows early release of a deposit by statutory notice, is repealed and replaced with new ss26A and 26B.

Under s26A, a deposit can only be released before settlement if the contract contains an express clause permitting it and both parties agree to that clause. The existing statutory mechanism will no longer apply.

Under s26B, even where release is validly agreed, agents cannot deduct commission, auction expenses, marketing expenses or any other amount owed to them from the released funds; agent payments can only be made after settlement or rescission.

These provisions commence on a date to be proclaimed, no later than 1 July 2027 (one month after the Vendor Statement reforms).

This article was co-authored by Khadija Khurram, Lawyer.