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Since 1 August 2025, Queensland has had a statutory seller disclosure scheme under the Property Law Act 2023. It requires sellers to give buyers key information about a property before a contract of sale is signed, rather than leaving buyers to uncover everything themselves. This guide explains what the scheme covers, its limitations, and how it fits into your own research before you sign.
What the Seller Disclosure Scheme Is
The scheme requires a seller to provide a buyer with a Form 2 Seller Disclosure Statement, along with a set of prescribed certificates, before the buyer signs the contract. It applies to contracts for the sale of existing freehold property entered into from 1 August 2025 onward, covering residential property, commercial property, and vacant land, with limited exceptions.
When It Applies, and Key Exceptions
The scheme generally applies to standard freehold property sales in Queensland. Exemptions apply in specific situations, including where the buyer is the State, a government body, a constructing authority, or a listed corporation, where the buyer and seller are related parties, where the sale price exceeds $10 million and the buyer waives disclosure, or where the seller is a local council recovering unpaid rates. Most everyday residential purchases will fall within the scheme.
What Buyers Should Expect to Receive
Before you sign, the seller should provide the Form 2 Seller Disclosure Statement together with the required prescribed certificates. You should receive these as part of the contract process, not as something you have to chase down after signing.
What Information the Form 2 Disclosure Statement Covers
The Form 2 statement is structured in parts:
- Part 1: Seller details, the property address, and lot and plan details.
- Part 2: Title search results, registered encumbrances, and any residential tenancy agreements affecting the property.
- Part 3: Zoning, transport infrastructure notices, resumption notices, contaminated land status, and heritage listings.
- Part 4: Whether the property has a pool, its community titles scheme status if applicable, and other required statutory notices.
Alongside the statement, sellers must provide prescribed certificates, which can include a title search and survey plan, environmental, building and planning act notices, a pool safety certificate where applicable, community management or body corporate certificates for properties in a scheme, and any tree application orders affecting the property.
Important Limitations of Seller Disclosure
Seller disclosure is genuinely useful, but it is not a full picture of the property. The Form 2 statement notably does not cover structural soundness, flooding history, or previous building approvals. In other words, disclosure tells you about legal and title matters, zoning, and certain statutory notices, but it does not tell you whether the roof leaks, whether the property has flooded before, or whether past renovations were properly approved.
What Disclosure Does Not Replace
Because of these gaps, seller disclosure should be treated as one input into your research, not the whole process. It does not replace:
- A licensed building and pest inspection, which is the standard way to identify structural issues and pest activity.
- Your own flood and environmental risk research for the specific address, since flooding history is not part of the disclosure statement.
- Reading and interpreting the title search yourself, or having your conveyancer or solicitor do so. See our guide on how to read a Queensland property title search and on what an easement means for a property.
- Independent legal advice on the contract itself.
If Something Is Missing, Unclear, or Concerning
If a Form 2 statement or a prescribed certificate is not provided before you sign, Queensland law gives you an absolute right to terminate the contract at any time before settlement, without needing to prove the missing information was significant. If a statement or certificate is provided but turns out to be inaccurate or incomplete on a material matter, you may also be able to terminate, but in that case you generally need to show the issue was material, that you were unaware of it when you signed, and that you would not have proceeded if you had known. If the contract is terminated on these grounds, you are entitled to a full refund of money paid, including any accrued interest.
If something in the disclosure looks incomplete, inconsistent, or unclear, raise it in writing with the seller’s agent and speak to your conveyancer or solicitor promptly, ideally before you sign or while your cooling-off period is still open. See our guide to the Queensland cooling-off period and to choosing a conveyancer or solicitor.
How This Fits Into Your Pre-Offer and Pre-Signing Research
Seller disclosure is something you receive from the seller, not something you have to go and find yourself, but it works best alongside your own research rather than instead of it. Our guide on what to check before making an offer and our free Queensland Property Research Checklist cover the wider due diligence process this disclosure statement fits into.
Where Narevella Can Help
If you have a specific property in mind and want an independent research pass to sit alongside the seller’s disclosure, our Property Review can help.
Disclaimer
This guide provides general research information only and reflects the seller disclosure scheme as it applied from 1 August 2025. It is not legal advice, and Narevella is not a licensed real estate agent, buyer’s agent, valuer, solicitor, or conveyancer. Disclosure requirements and buyer rights can be complex in individual cases. Always confirm current requirements and your specific rights with a licensed Queensland conveyancer or solicitor before signing a contract.
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