QLD seller disclosure: Form 2 + prescribed certificates under Property Law Act 2023

TL;DR

From 1 August 2025, every Queensland property sale under the Property Law Act 2023 requires the seller to provide a signed Form 2 Seller’s Disclosure Statement and all prescribed certificates before the buyer signs the contract. If the disclosure is missing, incomplete, or materially wrong, the buyer can terminate at any time before settlement and recover the full deposit with interest. This is the most significant tightening of QLD property disclosure in 50 years.

What this article is for

For builders, developers, and buyers on any Queensland sale signed on or after 1 August 2025, the old rules no longer apply. This article covers what Form 2 discloses, which prescribed certificates must attach, the buyer’s remedies for a defective disclosure, and how the QLD regime compares to NSW and VIC.

What the form is called (and the 2025 regime change)

Under the superseded Property Law Act 1974 there was no general pre-contract seller disclosure obligation. Queensland ran on a “buyer beware” model: the buyer’s solicitor ordered searches after exchange. Some practitioners still refer to “Form 18,” but that related to mortgagee-related notices under different provisions, not a general vendor disclosure.

The Property Law Act 2023 replaced that framework. The operative form is:

Form 2: Seller’s Disclosure Statement

The seller completes and signs Form 2 before presenting it to the buyer. All prescribed certificates must accompany it. There is no “exchange then search” mechanism for mandatory disclosure items; they must be in the buyer’s hands before the buyer signs.

The new Act applies to all contracts for the sale of freehold land in Queensland signed on or after 1 August 2025.

Required disclosures

The seller must confirm all statements in Form 2 are true and correct at the time the form is given to the buyer. Key categories:

Category	What the seller must disclose
Title and encumbrances	Whether any caveat, writ, or other dealing is registered or pending
Contaminated land	Whether the property appears on the Contaminated Land Register or Environmental Management Register under the Environmental Protection Act 1994
Building and planning notices	Any outstanding notices, orders, or requisitions from a building, environment, or planning authority
Infrastructure proposals	Any transport or infrastructure proposal affecting the lot
Resumption or acquisition	Any intention to resume the lot or application affecting the lot
Tree orders	Any order or application relating to a tree on the lot
QBCC insurance	Any notices under the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (relevant to residential construction)

Material errors or omissions give the buyer a right to terminate (see below).

Prescribed attached certificates

In addition to Form 2 itself, the seller must attach prescribed certificates. The mandatory set depends on the property type.

All freehold property

Certificate	Notes
Title search	Current, from the Titles Registry. Shows registered owner, encumbrances, caveats, easements.
Registered plan (survey plan)	Shows lot dimensions, easements, and road boundaries as registered.
Pool safety certificate (if applicable)	Required if the property has a regulated pool. Must be a current compliance certificate; if no certificate exists, the seller must disclose that fact. Pool safety certificates under the Building Act 1975 have a validity of 2 years for a sale (1 year for a lease).
Environmental notices	Copy of any EPA notice if the property is on the Contaminated Land Register or Environmental Management Register.
Building and planning notices	Copies of any outstanding authority notices or orders.

Community title (body corporate) properties

Certificate	Notes
Body corporate certificate	Issued by the body corporate under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997. Sets out contributions, arrears, levies, insurance, and known capital works.
Community management statement	The registered document governing the scheme (by-laws, lot entitlements, scheme name).

The body corporate certificate takes 5 to 10 business days to obtain and carries an expiry date. Order it well before the intended sale date.

Buyer termination rights

If the seller fails to provide a compliant Form 2 and all prescribed certificates before the buyer signs the contract, or if the statement contains a material inaccuracy or omission, the buyer may terminate the contract at any time before settlement.

There is no fixed cooling-off-style window. The termination right persists all the way to settlement. This is a much stronger buyer remedy than the pre-2023 regime, where buyers generally had no rescission right for pre-contract disclosure failures.

On valid termination, the buyer is entitled to a full refund of all money paid, including any interest accrued on the deposit.

The right does not cover every inaccuracy. The defect must relate to a “material matter affecting the property.” Anything that would affect a reasonable buyer’s decision to purchase or the price they would pay is likely to qualify.

Compared to NSW s10.7 + VIC s32

All three east-coast states require pre-contract disclosure. The scope and mechanism differ.

Feature	QLD (Form 2, PLA 2023)	NSW (s10.7 certificate, EP&A Act)	VIC (s32 statement, SLA 1958)
Enabling legislation	Property Law Act 2023	Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979	Sale of Land Act 1962
Form name	Form 2 Seller’s Disclosure Statement	Section 10.7 Planning Certificate (plus contract disclosure conditions)	Section 32 Vendor Statement
Timing	Before buyer signs contract	Attached to contract before exchange	Before buyer signs contract
Planning information	Via attached planning certificate / DA notices	s10.7(2) or (5) certificate from council (full planning controls)	Via documents attached to s32 statement
Body corporate	Mandatory body corporate certificate	SSMA compliance certificate (separate statutory regime)	Owners corporation certificate (OCA 2006)
Pool safety	Pool safety certificate (Building Act 1975)	No prescribed pool certificate in s10.7	No prescribed pool certificate in s32
Buyer remedy for defect	Terminate before settlement + full deposit refund	Statutory rescission rights; vary by defect type	s32 defects: buyer may rescind before settlement; remedy depends on defect
Pre-2025 QLD regime	No mandatory pre-contract disclosure	s149 planning certificates required since 1979	s32 required since 1984

QLD has moved from the weakest east-coast disclosure regime to a broadly comparable one. NSW required planning disclosure since 1979; VIC since 1984. The 2023 Act corrects 50 years of buyer-beware.

What can go wrong

Assuming pre-1 August 2025 rules still apply. Any contract signed on or after 1 August 2025 is subject to the new Act. Practitioners who have not updated pre-sale checklists will miss Form 2 and expose sellers to termination claims.

Pool safety certificate timing. A compliance certificate issued for a sale is valid for 2 years; one obtained for a tenancy (12-month validity) is not automatically sufficient. Verify the type and expiry before relying on it. A property with a non-compliant pool and no valid certificate must disclose that on Form 2.

Body corporate fee escalation post-disclosure. The body corporate certificate captures contributions at the date of issue. Special levies struck after that but before settlement are not in it. Buyers of community title property should request an updated search close to settlement.

Confusing “no pool safety certificate” with “no pool.” If the property has a regulated pool and no current compliance certificate, the seller must affirmatively state that in Form 2. Leaving the pool section blank is not disclosure.

Old-regime habits. Practitioners trained under the 1974 Act may still treat buyer-ordered post-exchange searches as the default. Under the new Act the disclosure obligation is the seller’s, and it runs before the buyer is bound. Builders selling newly completed property need to confirm their solicitors have updated their workflows.

Planning instrument hierarchy (AU) for context on QLD’s planning scheme layer, which feeds into the planning information attached to Form 2.
NSW s10.7 certificates and VIC s32 statement for cross-state comparison.
Easements and covenants for the encumbrances that show up on the title search.
Flood-prone area for planning overlays that may surface through the disclosure process.

References

Property Law Act 2023 (Qld), via legislation.qld.gov.au (verified 2026-05-23).
Property Law Act 1974 (Qld) (superseded 1 August 2025).
Holding Redlich, “Queensland’s Property Law Act: New seller disclosure requirements from 1 August 2025,” holdingredlich.com (verified 2026-05-23).
Allens, “New seller disclosure scheme: from ‘buyer beware’ to transparent transactions,” allens.com.au (verified 2026-05-23).
Australian Building Codes Board (NCC)