On 7 April 2020, the National Cabinet issued a Mandatory Code of Conduct (the Code), which imposes a set of good faith leasing principles that apply to certain commercial tenancies experiencing financial stress or hardship because of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 (COVID-19). You can read more about the Code and the emergency powers provisions in other states in our previous alert which can be found here.

Following the release of the Code, the South Australian Government has now introduced the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act 2020 (SA) (Act) and the COVID-19 Emergency Response (Commercial Leases) Regulations 2020 (SA) (Regulations).

The Act, which was introduced on 9 April 2020, modifies the provisions of commercial leases to prohibit and regulate the exercise of certain landlord rights to enforce terms under these commercial leases.

The Regulations, which were introduced on 16 April 2020, detail the circumstances in which a tenant will be taken to be suffering financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this article, we will discuss when the Act applies, who is covered under the Act, the key provisions of the Act, and whether the Act has clarified the uncertainties from the Code.