Section 32 Vendor Statements in Victoria: Every Disclosure the Act Requires, and When a Purchaser May Rescind

It is the vendor’s statement required by s 32 of the Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic). The vendor must sign it and give it to the purchaser before the purchaser signs the contract of sale, and it must contain the matters and attach the documents specified in Part II Division 2 — financial matters, insurance, land use restrictions and planning details, notices, building permits, owners corporation information, GAIC, unconnected services and evidence of title.

Before you sign the contract. s 32(1) requires the statement to be given to the purchaser before the purchaser signs, which is why signing at an inspection without having read it is so risky — by the time you read the disclosure, the terms are already agreed.

Matters relating to the use of the land: any easement, covenant or similar restriction affecting the land and any existing failure to comply with it; whether the land is in a designated bushfire prone area under s 192A of the Building Act 1993; whether there is no road access; and, where a planning scheme applies, the scheme name, the responsible authority, the zoning, and the name of any planning overlay affecting the land.

Section 32K provides that supplying false information, failing to supply required information, or failing to give the statement before the purchaser signs may result in rescission at any time before the purchaser accepts title and becomes entitled to possession or to rents and profits. But s 32K(4) prevents rescission where a court is satisfied the vendor acted honestly and reasonably and ought fairly to be excused, and the purchaser is substantially in as good a position as if Division 2 had been complied with. Whether a particular situation qualifies is a question for a property lawyer on the facts.

No, and this is widely misstated. s 33B(1) requires the checklist to be made available from the time the land is offered for sale, and s 33B(6) defines "made available" as copies on display or offered at any inspection, plus access to a copy from any internet site where the land is offered, either directly or by link. Attaching it to the vendor statement is a common convention, not the statutory test.

The vendor under s 33B(1) and (2) — unless the vendor has engaged a licensed estate agent to act, in which case s 33B(3) removes the obligation from the vendor and s 33B(4) and (5) impose it on the agent. Both carry a penalty of 60 penalty units.

It is a contravention of Division 2A carrying 60 penalty units for whoever bore the obligation. It does not of itself engage the section 32K rescission machinery, because section 32K operates on the Division 2 vendor statement and the checklist sits in a different division and is not part of that statement.

From Consumer Affairs Victoria. Section 33C requires the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria to publish a copy of the approved checklist on the Consumer Affairs Victoria internet site, and a version that is not in the Director’s approved form does not satisfy s 33B(2).

No. Section 32N makes void and of no effect any provision in a contract for the sale of land that excludes, modifies or restricts any provision of Division 2. A clause purporting to waive the vendor’s disclosure obligations has no legal effect.

Yes. Section 32L provides that a vendor must not knowingly or recklessly supply false information, fail to supply all the information required by Division 2, or fail to give the purchaser a signed statement before the purchaser signs. The penalty is 300 penalty units for a body corporate and 60 penalty units in any other case.

No. Division 2 discloses legal and financial matters about the land, not the physical condition of anything on it. Structural defects, pest damage, wiring, plumbing and the practical effect of an overlay are all things you have to investigate independently, through a building inspection, a pest inspection and your own planning enquiries.

It shows the NAME of any planning overlay affecting the land, under s 32C(d)(iv), along with the planning scheme name, the responsible authority and the zoning. It does not explain what the overlay does, whether it triggers a permit requirement, or how it affects a second dwelling or a subdivision — obtain your own planning property report and read it alongside the statement.

Owners corporation information is disclosed under s 32F — either the prescribed information or a current owners corporation certificate issued under s 151 of the Owners Corporations Act 2006, with the accompanying documents — and rates, taxes, charges and other outgoings under s 32A. If the owners corporation is inactive, s 32F requires the statement to say so. For an apartment or townhouse those two sections are usually where the real cost of ownership appears.

The growth areas infrastructure contribution, disclosed under s 32G. The statement must specify whether the land is to be transferred or worked on under a work-in-kind agreement or is land on which a contribution is imposed, and must attach any release, deferral, exemption, staged-payment approval, no-liability or GAIC certificate. It matters most on outer-fringe purchases in designated growth areas.

Yes. Section 32(2) expressly permits a vendor to sign the statement by electronic signature. The substantive requirement is unchanged: it must still be given to you before you sign the contract.

The Act does not put an expiry on it. Section 32O covers the one situation it addresses directly: where the same vendor and purchaser enter a subsequent contract over the same land in substantially the same terms, no further statement is required. In practice, if material circumstances change between the date of the statement and the date you sign, ask for an updated one.

No. The contract of sale is the agreement; the section 32 is the vendor’s disclosure statement, which must be given before the contract is signed. They are usually presented together in one bundle, but they are separate documents with different legal consequences.

A section 32 is a legal document whose accuracy carries rescission consequences, and the section 32K analysis — including the s 32K(4) limit — is not something to do yourself. Have a conveyancer or property lawyer review it before you sign, every time.

If there is a residence on the land, the statement must contain particulars of any building permit issued under the Building Act 1993 in the preceding 7 years for a building on the land. Visible recent work with no corresponding permit disclosed is a question worth asking before you sign.

Yes. Section 32C(b) requires a statement that the land is in such an area where it is in an area designated as a bushfire prone area under s 192A of the Building Act 1993. That designation changes construction requirements and cost, so it is a build question as well as a disclosure line.

Section 32A(ca), inserted by Act No. 16/2024, requires the statement to say whether the land is tax reform scheme land within the meaning of the Commercial and Industrial Property Tax Reform Act 2024, to give the AVPCC most recently allocated to the land, and — if it is scheme land — to give its entry date. The entry date is what starts the Commercial and Industrial Property Tax transition, so it is the most consequential recent addition to the form.

Building and pest condition; the practical effect of any disclosed overlay on what you want to build; where easements physically run relative to your build envelope; whether the block can take a second dwelling or be subdivided; achievable rent and vacancy in the area; and any flood or fire history that has not generated a notice or designation. Each requires an independent investigation.

It requires the vendor statement to specify which of electricity, gas, water, sewerage and telephone are NOT connected to the land. It is a non-connection disclosure only — it says nothing about the capacity, condition or physical location of any service that is connected, which is why service locations still need your own enquiries before planning a build.

Notices, orders, declarations, reports, recommendations or approved proposals of a public authority or government department directly and currently affecting the land; notices concerning livestock disease or contamination by agricultural chemicals; and any notice of intention to acquire the land served under s 6 of the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986 — the same notice that separately triggers the s 32M rescission right.

A separate and narrower right than s 32K: the purchaser may rescind if, before accepting title and becoming entitled to possession or to the receipt of rents and profits, a notice of intention to acquire the land has been served under s 6 of the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986. It operates whether or not the section 32 statement was defective — it is the compulsory-acquisition trigger, not a disclosure remedy.

Section 32A requires particulars of any mortgage over the land that is not to be discharged before the purchaser becomes entitled to possession, together with statutory charges and the rates, taxes and other outgoings affecting the land — or a statement that they do not exceed a specified amount. A mortgage that will be discharged before the purchaser becomes entitled to possession sits outside that disclosure.

Authorised Version No. 173 of the Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic), No. 6975 of 1962, incorporating amendments as at 1 July 2026, published by the Chief Parliamentary Counsel. Divisions 2 and 2A in their current form were inserted by Act No. 33/2014; s 32A(ca) was added by Act No. 16/2024 and s 32B(b) substituted by Act No. 17/2025.